The international internship is an opportune moment for a student to apply the theory learned during university. I was lucky enough to have this opportunity to participate in the international internship in Kenya this winter. Preparatory training for the internship went ahead without a hitch, despite the Covid-19 pandemic which made everything uncertain.
After the preparatory training, my internship started as planned and I was placed in Kenya with UN Habitat. During my internship, I learned a lot about the workings of the UN system and was lucky enough to be part of the organizing team for the series of international conferences on the role of women in international development. For the celebration of International Women's Day, UN Habitat, HRSI Unit (Human Rights and Social Inclusion Unit) organized a four-part lecture series entitled “Women as Changemakers for Climate Action”. The theme of this year's International Women's Day (IWD) is “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”.
In this series, remarkable women were invited to share their challenges and achievements in their professional lives as women. I had the opportunity to participate in the organization of this series and was also a moderator of the third part whose theme was ‘'Women as Changemakers for Climate Action - Agriculture and Food Security’'. Our guest was Dr Jemimah Njuki, Head of the Economic Empowerment section at UN Women.
In addition, I'm also working with a team on a project entitled 'Compendium of Promising Practices' where I'm in charge of projects submitted by local organizations in the countries (Republic of Congo, Chad and Senegal). My task is to conduct interviews with these local organizations in order to gather the necessary information on their projects. I write a narrative report on each project submitted. In short, I'm involved in several groups working on different initiatives in our unit.
Despite doing my internship virtually because of the Covi-19 pandemic, I'm pleased with the opportunity that the University of Ottawa has given me with the help of the United Nations Association in Canada. The preparatory training gave me so much strength during my internship in Kenya. When I encountered challenges, I knew where to turn for help. I think that the University's support during this internship through a series of meetings gave me the strength and resilience to overcome the challenges I encountered during this period of internship.