Internship Opportunity with United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) 2010

Overview

POSITION TITLE: Intern (2 positions: culture intern and web intern)
LOCATION: Panama City, Panama

As the food aid arm of the UN, WFP uses its food to:
• meet emergency needs
• support economic & social development

The Agency also provides the logistics support necessary to get food aid to the right people at the right time and in the right place. WFP works to put hunger at the centre of the international agenda, promoting policies, strategies and operations that directly benefit the poor and hungry.

The WFP works with:

• Victims of natural disasters
• Displaced People - both refugees and internally displaced persons
• The world's hungry poor, trapped in a twilight zone between poverty and malnutrition.
• WFP also believes that women are the first solution to hunger and poverty.

With the vision of contributing to the eradication of hunger and malnutrition in the region, especially among children, and the overall objective of strengthening the capacity of governments and other stakeholders to be able to do so through the promotion and facilitation of knowledge sharing, WFPs project “Knowledge Management for Hunger Reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean”, seeks to respond to this situation by:

America and the Caribbean”, seeks to respond to this situation by:

• Establishing, strengthening, and supporting the functioning of knowledge networks that unite, both in person and virtually, governments and other stakeholders in the fight against hunger and malnutrition in the region, providing them with a space to exchange knowledge to foster better practice; and

• Developing, launching, and supporting the maintenance of a knowledge management portal that is interactive, decentralized, and online and that is available for governments and other stakeholders in the fight against hunger and malnutrition in the region to access as a tool for fostering better practice.

Requirements

Position 1: Web Intern

Under the direct guidance of the Regional Coordinator of the Initiative

Duties:

• Explore relevant web sites and mapping of attractive solutions based on specific criteria, with identification and justification of the 100 most successful sites
• Provide suggestions on attractive and functional web design and services, recommending actions based on the previous analysis of the most successful sites
• Preparation of project documentation material (PowerPoint, brochures, summaries)
• Perform additional research and administrative tasks as required
Interns’ duties and projects may not be as listed. These will depend on the needs of the host organization.

In addition to the requirements listed below for all applicants, the following qualifications are desired for the web intern position:

• University studies in information and communications, political science, public health, international affairs, or related field
• Preferably some prior experience working with development projects or in development entity
• Excellent advocacy and communication skills
• Strong information collection, analysis, and writing skills
• Proficiency with computers, including word processing, spreadsheet, database management and other software packages,
• Experience of working with Web 2.0/social web (RSS,Tags, Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts)
• Familiarity with content management portals and web page design
• Excellent sense of initiative, judgment, and responsibility
• Ability to plan, organize and work under pressure
• Ability to work as part of a team as well as independently in a multicultural office environment

Position 2: Culture Intern

Under the direct guidance of the Regional Coordinator of the Initiative

Duties:

• As part of a team, help identify videos of the cultural dimension of nutrition and food security
• As part of a team, help launch and follow up on a national contest selecting the most suitable documentation on the cultural dimension of nutrition and food security
• Identify centers of expertise on the cultural dimension of nutrition and food security
• Prepare project reports as required
• Preparation of project documentation material (PowerPoint, brochures, summaries)
• Perform research and mapping of relevant hunger reduction web initiatives, as required
• Perform additional research and administrative tasks as required
Interns’ duties and projects may not be as listed. These will depend on the needs of the host organization.

In addition to the requirements listed below for all applicants, the following qualifications are desired for the culture intern position:

• University studies in information and communications, political science, public health, international affairs, or related field
• Preferably some prior experience working with development projects or in development entity
• Excellent advocacy and communication skills
• Strong information collection, analysis, and writing skills
• Proficiency with computers, including word processing, spreadsheet, database management and other software packages, Experience of working with Web 2.0/social web (RSS,Tags, Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts)
• Familiarity with content management portals and web page design
• Excellent sense of initiative, judgment, and responsibility
• Ability to plan, organize and work under pressure
• Ability to work as part of a team as well as independently in a multicultural office environment
Requirements for all applicants:
• McGill U2 or U3 Arts student returning to McGill full-time in the fall
• Excellent writing and communication skills in both English and Spanish (completion of McGill’s Intermediate Spanish course, or equivalent);
• Familiarity with the regions of Latin America and the Caribbean;
• Strong working ability of Microsoft Office applications;
• Minimum GPA of 3.0
• Students must bring their own laptop.
• Students must fulfill Faculty of Arts requirements as outlined in the Handbook for Interns at

www.mcgill.ca/arts-internships/forms

HOURS: The intern can expect to work full time from May 18th to August 7th, 2010.

REMUNERATION: Unpaid internship

Successful applicants will be eligible to apply for Faculty of Arts Internship Awards.

See http://www.mcgill.ca/arts-internships/awards/apply for more information.

HOW TO APPLY:

Students must submit hard copies of their cover letter, resume and official transcript in both English and Spanish to Anne Turner at the Arts Internship Office in Leacock 307, where they will be revised and filtered according to the requirements set by the host institution. The Arts Internship Office will then transmit the selected applications to the host institution, which will ultimately be responsible for the selection of the candidate(s).

PLEASE NOTE:
Only successful applicants will be contacted. At that time, they will be asked to submit an electronic copy of their application which will be forwarded to the host institution.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: November 30, 2009

For mor info, please contact:

Anne Turner, Internship Officer, Faculty of Arts
Leacock Building, Room 307
(514) 398-2916 anne.turner@mcgill.ca

Please kindly mention Scholarization.blogspot.com when appying for this internship