UNICEF Internship – HIV/AIDS unit 2023

To reach the most underprivileged children on the planet, UNICEF works in some of the most difficult locations. to prevent their deaths. to protect their legal rights. to assist them in achieving their potential. UNICEF strives to create a better future for everyone by working for every child, everywhere, every day, in 190 nations and territories.

The primary goal of UNICEF is to advance the rights of every child and adolescent worldwide in all activities the organization does, including operations, advocacy, and programs. This dedication to children’s rights is translated into action through the equity strategy, which places a special emphasis on the most underprivileged and marginalized families and children. Equity, according to UNICEF, is the ability of every child to live, grow, and realize their full potential, free from prejudice, bias, or discrimination. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which outlines UNICEF’s worldwide mandate, and the fair development of states are both supported by the emphasis on equity, which quickens progress towards the realization of all children’s human rights. To eliminate the AIDS epidemic as a public health issue by 2030, it is essential to eradicate AIDS among children. The global HIV program of UNICEF makes this a top priority.

The intern hired for this job will work in the HIV Section of UNICEF Health Programmes, reporting to the Sr HIV/AIDS Advisor – Adolescents and collaborating with important business units across UNICEF NYHQ and numerous Regional Offices. Building on the views and intrinsic knowledge emerging from the networks, the post will assist knowledge work on the mainstreaming of evidence-informed programming recommendations on what works for the holistic wellness of young and adolescent populations.

Duration: Initial term of 14 weeks, renewable for up to six months

The intern will play an instrumental role in coordinating the engagement of young people in a fledgling global partnership, including direct support to the work of eight (8) Young Champions for Equality, a diverse group of young leaders working at the forefront of achieving social justice in the HIV response for adolescent and young key populations.

This internship is designated for a remote worker, with no expectations of travel during the course of this assignment. The intern will be placed in the HIV& AIDS Section of the Health Programmes of UNICEF NYHQ reporting directly to the supervisor throughout the duration of this internship. The intern will be expected to participate in section meetings, program group meetings, global all-hands meetings of the Health Group, as well as other UNICEF meetings of interest to the student, including career counseling and the seminar series for UNICEF interns. Guidance will be provided on a regular basis.

A key piece of the coordination scope the intern will undertake involves the curation of evidence emerging from centers of excellence within the youth-led responses, including but not limited to a repository of resources to help plan and scale up programs that address the health rights of adolescents and young key populations.

Under the supervision of the Senior HIV/AIDS Advisor – Adolescents, HIV Section, the intern will:

• Contribute to the knowledge management function of UNICEF’s HIV Section and its work within the UN Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS, including preparation of literature reviews, programmatic toolkits, programming briefs, advocacy pieces, landscape analyses snapshots, case studies, vignettes, resource libraries, and technical updates on adolescent-responsive programming
• Engage in collaborative learning communities to advance the state of the art in programming for the most marginalized and vulnerable populations, specifically adolescents living with HIV, adolescent girls and young women at substantial risk of acquiring HIV, adolescents from the key populations, and pregnant adolescents
• Foster engagement, including knowledge curation and technical advocacy, with Young Champions for Equality and networks of adolescent and young key populations to advance robust knowledge communities and support the successful performance of youth-led organizations
• Contribute to high-level technical advocacy and strategy-setting for key and priority populations of adolescents and young people living with and affected by HIV
• Engage in advancing the global visibility of emerging centers of excellence and expertise nodes, and in cultivating the strategic engagement of these adolescent and youth networks within and beyond the global HIV, health, and gender response
• Support the curation of the tacit knowledge and experiences of adolescent and young key populations, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, through tasks such as study management, survey tool development, convening consultations, and data analysis and visualization
• Participate in HQ-based technical assistance and technical exchanges between regional and field offices
• Participate in the preparation of various internal and external consultations and convening
• Any other tasks assigned by the supervisor