PeaceWomen Fellowships/Internships - 2020
Apply for a PeaceWomen Fellowship/Internship
Description
The Women, Peace and Security Programme of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) offers short term (4 months) Women, Peace and Security internships and longer-term (6 months) Women, Peace and Security fellowship through our New York City UN office.
The intern/fellow will work closely with WILPF staff to provide monitoring, research and outreach support to WILPF's advocacy on Women, Peace and Security issues at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The intern will attend and monitor Security Council debates and UN events, write research papers and policy analysis, including the annual update of the Security Council WPS Scorecard, and post monitoring information on the website. The intern/fellow will also conduct social media outreach, contribute to website maintenance and redevelopment, and support publication of WILPF's monthly Women, Peace and Security Monitor electronic newsletter.
This competitive internship/fellowship is aimed at graduate students or young professionals interested in women, peace and security issues related to disarmament and women’s human rights. The experience offers an opportunity to research and write about women, peace and conflict issues and gain experience with grassroots communications and non-governmental organisation management in the context of the United Nations work.
A intern/fellow should be highly self-motivated and well-organised; work well both independently and as part of a team; open-minded, flexible and not afraid to take initiative; and able to prioritise and complete multiple tasks on tight deadlines.
The internship/fellowship requires initiative, creativity, flexibility, and commitment to WILPF’s mission, while maintaining WILPF’s high professional standards.
Opportunities
WILPF generally hires interns/fellows to join the NY WPS team during three different periods annually: January-May/June, May/June-August, and September-December.
We accept rolling applications for all of these internship periods, until a month and a half before the internship start date.
Qualifications
Currently be enrolled in a graduate programme (MA, MS, JD, LLM, PhD) or recently graduated with studies in international relations/affairs, international law, political science, public policy and administration, human rights, international development, international security, gender studies, or related field;
Background or strong interest in issues related to women, peace and security, including but not limited to gender and militarism, sexual violence in conflict, women's roles in decision-making, women’s participation in conflict prevention, peace processes and post-conflict peacebuilding;
Background or strong interest in the United Nations system. Understanding of UN’s basic functions/structure preferred;
Exceptional oral and written communication skills and attention to detail
Strong interpersonal skills;
Computer proficiency in Windows environment (Word, Excel, PowerPoint); editing and website development experience, including Content Management System (CMS), is a plus;
Strong communications background with working knowledge of traditional media (press releases, events) and social media (Facebook, Twitter);
Experience with blogging, multi-media platforms, and desktop publishing (InDesign, Photoshop, etc.) is a plus;
Ability to commit to at least 4 full days per week;
Ability to speak additional languages (especially French, Spanish or Arabic) preferred, but not required.
Please note that we are unable to sponsor US work visas for this position.
Expectations
The intern/fellow will work four days per week in the WILPF UN office and will have a key role in programmatic work. The intern/fellow’s work will be guided by Programme Director.
We expect an intern/fellow to contribute as part of a team to other WILPF projects.
All interns/fellows are also responsible for a certain amount of general office work which they will be trained on, including updating the WILPF/PeaceWomen website, attending meetings, taking notes and performing general support and administrative tasks.
How to Apply
To be considered for the internship/fellowship, applicants should submit the following to: peacewomen@wilpf.org
CV or Resume, indicating education, relevant past activities and experience;
Cover Letter (1 page, single-spaced), including start/end dates & days/week available;
2 References, including names and contact information and/or a letter of recommendation from an academic or field professional;
Writing Sample (no more than 5 pages), preferably addressing an issue related to women, peace and security, that demonstrates ability to write in short, clear and concrete language (may be an excerpt of longer work);
The subject of the e-mail should be: “[First Name Last Name] WILPF WPS Internship/Fellowship Application”, and all documents should be combined into one PDF or DOCX file.
No phone calls please. Please e-mail peacewomen@wilpf.org with any questions.
Thank you!
- 2020
Dani Philipson is the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Fellow at the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and a Fulbright scholar from Mexico City. She holds a Master’s of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and two Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and International Relations from the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico. At Harvard, she was the co-chair of the Gender Policy Union and a Women and Public Policy Program Summer Fellow. For her Master’s thesis, Dani conducted research on how to advance and enhance civilian law enforcement at the local level to help end militarization in Mexico.
Prior to WILPF, Dani worked in the Senate of the Republic of Mexico where she was a policy advisor for the President of the Mexican Senate. In the Senate, she focused on military and police reform, as well as drug policy reform. In her free time, Dani teaches a G.E.D. Social Studies course in Harlem and works as a part-time consultant for a project on femicide in Northern Mexico. She is delighted to be part of the WILPF team, where she looks forward to expand her knowledge on the WPS agenda, multilateralism, conflict-resolution, demilitarization and disarmament with a gender perspective as a means to promote feminist peace.
- 2019
Senem Kaptan, PeaceWomen Fellow
Senem Kaptan, PeaceWomen FellowSenem Kaptan is the Women, Peace and Security Fellow at the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Senem’s long-standing interest in gender and militarism culminated in a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Rutgers University, where she conducted an eighteen-month ethnographic field research, analysing the trials of military officers accused of treason and coup plotting in contemporary Turkey. Prior to her doctoral work, Senem completed her M.A. in Cultural Studies at Sabanci University, where her research focused on the experiences of mothers of soldiers serving in conflict zones during Turkey’s long-standing Kurdish conflict. Senem has presented at various national and international conferences on matters related to gender, nationalism and militarism as well as having extensive academic publications on these issues. During her time with WILPF, Senem looks forward to furthering her knowledge about and gaining experience in the advocacy work that advances the Women, Peace and Security agenda at the local and global levels through monitoring, analysing and reporting on United Nations Security Council meetings as well as conducting outreach and research.
Sarah Kenny Werner joins WILPF/PeaceWomen from New York City, New York. Sarah holds a Masters of Arts with Honours in International Relations from the University of Edinburgh and SciencesPo. In her dissertation, she argued for a radical feminist revisioning of international relations theory and practice. After working as a litigation paralegal at a corporate law firm, she designed and taught “Fine Arts in a Democratic Context” in Harlem. This course, an extension of her dissertation, develops technical skills and fluency in art history to explore the concepts at the heart of political systems (such as equality, justice, and freedom). Sarah is excited to join the WILPF team as a United Nations and Security Council Monitor Fellow, where she looks forward to expanding her knowledge of the women, peace and security agenda and monitoring, analysing and reporting on its progress in the Security Council. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys reading, dancing, and creating art.
