What types of responsibilities and/or tasks did you have in your internship? What was a typical day for you?
As a Policy Analysis Trainee supporting the OECD-DAC Network on Gender Equality, my tasks included:
- Conducting research on Women’s Unpaid Care and Domestic work, and on Gender Equality in Fragile and Conflict Affected Settings (FCAS), supporting data production for SDGs
- Drafting concept notes, reports, event summaries and talking points
- Liaising with UN bodies, NGOs, Civil Society Organizations and Government officials from different ministries
- Co-organizing the 1st Policy Dialogue on Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE), with +180 participants; the Global Forum on Development, with +400 attendees; and the GENDERNET annual meeting with the Network´s country member delegates
- Outreach: creating social media content and communications material around main events and OECD publications
- Translating documents and publications Spanish-English-French: The Handbook on the OECD-DAC Gender Equality Policy Marker; room documents for the Policy Dialogue; and the Gender Equality in FCAS Report summary.
What language(s) did you speak/use during your internship?
The two working languages of the OECD are French and English. However, I also used my native Spanish and practiced my high-intermediate Arabic when interacting with development partners from the Latin American & Caribbean and MENA regions, respectively.
Tell us about your future goals/aspriations. Is this internship relevant? Do you think it will help you along the way?
The internship at the OECD-DAC GENDERNET was of more relevance and help than I could have expected when I started. Towards the end I was offered a Junior Position that I accepted! As a Consultant on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, my job is to support the work streams of the Secretariat, which allows me to keep building the first steps of a promising career in the International Affairs, Development and Gender "industry."
Anything else to share?
My parents often remind me that when they were younger, job offers would fall from the sky even before you had finished university. Today, however, everybody has higher education degrees, is very prepared and has a CV that is worth a contract. Competition with candidates that we perceive as better prepared and more qualified than us will always be there. We need to use that as a motivation to work harder, rather than let it push us back. Internships are the best way I can think of to differentiate ourselves from others and to add skills and experience to our valuable profiles, so I encourage all students to find one and to use their time - and AUP rich resources - wisely!
