United States of America: Intern – Protection Humanitarian Policy and Practice Team – Protection

About InterAction:

InterAction is the largest alliance of international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the U.S., with over 190 members working in every developing country. Members are large and small, faith-based and secular, with a focus on the world’s most poor and vulnerable populations. The U.S. public, foundations and governments support the work of our members who collectively invest and manage over $18 billion a year. InterAction’s own funds come from dues and generous grants from others, such as foundations, corporations and governments. Using its collective voice, InterAction seeks to shape important policy decisions as wide range of foreign assistance, relief, development, environmental and other issues that advance human dignity.

InterAction’s Protection Team is seeking applications for unpaid Spring 2020 internship position(s) in Washington, DC.

Position Description:

The Intern – Protection will gain valuable insight into the humanitarian sector by working directly with InterAction’s Protection team. Overall responsibilities will include support for InterAction’s work on Results-Based Protection (RBP) including pre-mission and other background research; supporting the management and organization of RBP resources, including drafting blogposts and revising existing blogposts; and supporting logistics and planning for general meetings and larger-scale events. Interns will be encouraged to participate regularly in both internal and external meetings. The specific work of the Intern will also be based upon the individual’s learning and professional goals, as tied to the initiatives of InterAction’s Protection Team within the larger Humanitarian Policy & Practice (HPP) Team.

Essential Functions:

· Complete background research or literature review on a protection issue(s) related to the Protection team’s various workstreams, specifically RBP (may include country-specific research);

· Support the management and organization of RBP resources;

· Draft new blogposts and revise existing blogposts on various resources relevant to RBP;

· Provide administrative and logistical support for meetings and larger-scale events, including drafting minutes of the proceedings;

• Support project deliverables as needed by the Protection team’s workstreams;
• Participate in various fora as needed, such as outside meetings at think tanks;
• Debrief the team at the internship’s conclusion on learning and/or a work task completed.

Additional Opportunities:

An intern can expect to gain the following experiences beyond daily work duties through:

• Attendance at InterAction working group meetings – access to meetings of members and InterAction staff on a variety of current issues within the humanitarian assistance field;
• On-the-job learning about the humanitarian architecture, advocacy, policy, and operations;
• Access to senior-level staff members at InterAction for informational interviews;
• Informal networking with InterAction staff members and individuals from more than 180 member organizations.

Learning Objectives:

• Demonstrate knowledge of technical, thematic, or regional issues related to the work of the Protection Team – specifically results-based approaches to protection in humanitarian contexts;
• Understand the linkages between international policy and programming in the humanitarian field;
• Understand core elements of the global humanitarian architecture, including the roles of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), UN, and NGO community;
• Gain experience working in a professional and collaborative team environment;
• Develop research, analytical, communication, writing, and task/time management skills.

Requirements:

• College junior, senior, graduate student, or recent graduate student in a related field;
• Strong organizational and communication skills;
• Strong research experience, experience conducting desk research desirable;
• Excellent attention to detail;
• Ability to manage multiple tasks;
• Flexibility to meet changing deadlines and priorities;
• Positive attitude, proactive, and curious;
• Ability to work with minimal supervision;
• Interest, familiarity, and/or coursework in humanitarian assistance is strongly preferred.

Expected Start Date:

The internship will range between 20 to 40 hours per week. A typical spring internship runs from January – May but start and end dates are flexible.

Work Environment:

Most work will take place at InterAction’s office, located in northwest Washington, DC. A small monthly travel reimbursement of $50 is available.

To Apply:

Please e-mail your resume and cover letter to jobs@interaction.org with subject line containing: Intern – Protection. The position will remain open until filled and applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The final deadline to apply is November 20, 2019, but applicants are encouraged to apply early. Due to the expected volume of applications, only finalists will be contacted. No phone calls, please.

All applicants must be able to provide documentation that they are legally eligible to work in the United States for an extended period.