Intern - Peace Security and Gender, West Africa at the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

The Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (German Agency for International Cooperation) is an international enterprise owned by the German Federal government, operating in many fields across more than 130 countries.

In Nigeria, GIZ's portfolio includes among others, a programme to support the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in its regional integration goals. The programme aims to strengthen sector-specific capacities in the areas of Peace and Security, Customs and Trade as weir as Strategic Management and Organizational Development in the ECOWAS Commission.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Intern - Peace Security and Gender, West Africa (M/F/D)

Job-ID: V000055052
Location: Abuja
Assignment period: 07/01/2023 - 12/31/2023
Field: Trainees
Type of employment: Full-time

Job Description

• The West African Region continues to struggle with old and new forms of armed conflict and insecurity, including violent extremism, communal violence, piracy, violent riots, farmer-herder conflicts, election-related-violence.
• Many of these challenges cannot be solved by one country alone but require the institutions and member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to jointly implement regional and continental strategies to respond more effectively to these myriads of conflict.
• Against this background the EPSAO Project supports the ECOWAS Commission in its mandate to prevent and manage conflict and security threats in West Africa.
• This is achieved by strengthening ECOWAS in the area of conflict prevention, peace support operations and security sector reform and governance, elections, and support to the regional training infrastructure.
• The project is co–funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
• In the context of the work on early warning, the project established jointly with the Early Warning Directorate and counterparts in the Member States, National Centres for the Coordination of the Response Mechanisms (NCCRMs) in five ECOWAS member states, including The Gambia, Nigeria, Togo, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
• The centres provide support in the prevention, management, and resolution of low-intensity conflicts at local and national level and bring about a closer connection between conflict early warning and response.
• To this end, relevant ministries, local administrations and civil society are involved. This bottom-up approach further supports the strengthening of national peace infrastructures in the country.
• The project provides advise, trainings and financial support to the centres to enable them to fulfil their mandate. In addition, the project supports the ECOWAS Early Warning Directorate to coordinate, manage and steer Early Waring Interventions on the regional level.

Your Tasks
During your internship, you will support the following tasks:

• Support services for individual team members in strategic consulting on decentralization of the ECOWAS Early Warning and Response System
• Support in the organization of workshops with the ECOWAS Early Warning Directorate and the NCCRMs across West Africa
• Support to the EPSAO Gender Focal Person in sensitizing staff on the Feminist Foreign/ Development Policy
• Support gender-related initiatives of ECOWAS Commission and its institutions in ECOWAS Member States
• Support Context Monitoring: Research topics relevant to the implementation of the project; facilitate one reflection & learning event for EPSAO staff
• Support update of software-based Operational Plan and planning for next project phase
• Support in the varied day-to-day project management business including drafting of German language monitoring reports
• Support to aspects of work and coordination related to programming of new EPSAO phase as well as support to communication and liaison with Headquarters as may be required

Your Profile

• You are studying in the third semester or higher political, legal or social sciences, organizational development, peace and conflict studies, international relations or a comparable study
• First practical experience in the field of international cooperation with institutional and specialist knowledge in the field of peace and security and/or in the field of organisational development
• Good knowledge of German Feminist Foreign/Development Policy
• Strong IT skills, especially in relevant Microsoft applications (Office, MS Teams, sharepoint, etc.)
• Business fluency in German, English. (Must have strong German drafting skills). Knowledge of French would be an asset
• Ability and willingness to work independently, intercultural competence and strong communication skills
• Enjoy working in a multicultural team.

Remuneration
We pay a monthly stipend of €2.064,- (gross). Depending on the country of assignment a monthly expatriation allowance (gross), predetermined by GIZ will be paid on top.

Application Closing Date
17th May, 2023.