During my major, I mostly focused on international relations, politics of migration and developing countries. Over the course of my internships, I veered to international development where all my interests aligned, including human rights. Naturally, gender equality (GE) is a theme that has appeared in many of my courses and internship experiences. The opportunity of working at Save the Children Canada (SCC) as a Gender Equality Support Officer allowed me to merge my interests and dive into gender equality from an academic and practical perspective.
SCC is an international non-profit organization member to Save the Children International, and seeks to advocate for children’s rights and respond to humanitarian crises. SCC specializes in gender equality across a variety of themes such as livelihoods, education, child protection, and health and nutrition. I was interested work at SCC to learn about the process in which programs are developed, especially in liaison with Global Affairs Canada (GAC). This opportunity has brought more insight into the field of international non-profit organizations and international development in terms of organizational structure, programming, and advocacy.
In the first month, I attended trainings with the technical quality team and other departments to understand the different roles in the organization. I noticed how the whole of the international programs team has an important role in every step of the project, which needs proper communication and teamwork. I was also able to attend various meetings and workshops to learn about new tools, to improve learning within the organization, to unpack new international policies related to SCC programming, and to revisit projects, events or operations for debriefings. These were useful to understand how the organization engages with advocacy and seeks to improve ways of working.
A highlight of my internship and my main task involved providing a literature review to support a GAC project proposal. This research served for a design workshop and program development for a girls’ education project in Mozambique. By looking at previous official data, including ethnographic studies and SCC resources, I compiled background information on the key gender inequalities and the challenges of the education system in the country, and did a review of the best practices in Mozambique and other global programs. It was rewarding to see how my work contributed to project discussions and development. Another highlight includes taking minutes for the after action review for Cyclone Idai. While the response was over by the time I started my internship, it was an opportunity for me to learn about the process that goes into a humanitarian response, and the challenges that arise in such short notices. Other tasks included reviewing, editing or formatting SCC and/or country office documents from a gender perspective, writing a program brief for a Child, Early and Forced Marriage program in Nigeria, and provide other general support such as co-facilitate a GE training and support an interview panel.
My time at Save the Children was memorable because it allowed experiencing what working in the non-profit sector is like as I was able to learn about the work that is done by different teams, participate in the process, and witness the challenges. This experience has increased my knowledge on human rights and gender equality, and has improved my capacities as an advocate. I am motivated to pursue a career that will include the non-profit sector, and maybe one day will be back at Save the Children Canada.
I would like to thank Save the Children Canada and Dean Antonia Maioni for the Faculty of Arts Internship Award, both whom provided the funds to cover my housing, transportation fees and other living expenses in Toronto. I am also incredibly grateful to my supervisors Dominique LaRochelle and Tim Carpentier for being supportive during my internship and being inspiring mentors. Lastly, I would like to thank my Save the Children Canada colleagues for giving me guidance during my time at the organization.
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