Paid internship Position – Research and Funding Officer MENA Region

About Defence for Children International – World Service Foundation

DCI’s World Service Foundation (DCI-WS) was established by DCI International Movement in 2016 to strengthen organisations and support the development of child rights programmes, mainly by providing technical expertise and conceptual advice to DCI’s National Sections and Regional Desks.

Specifically, DCI-WS is responsible for identifying gaps and opportunities in response to national sections’ needs, and ensuring a systematic approach in the Movements’ relations with donors, public and private partners, who would like to actively contribute to the growing impact of DCI’s activities around the globe.

The DCI-WS is strategically located in Brussels, Belgium to connect the Movement with EU and international partners and access related project opportunities within that fora.

DCI-WS, also doubling as the Europe Regional Desk is now seeking a professional, motivated intern to assist its ongoing business development efforts, with a particular focus on supporting the MENA Regional Desk and their national sections (present in Palestine, Morocco, Mauritania, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt and Iraq).

The role will be an ideal opportunity to learn for candidates interested in gaining knowledge of the needs of civil society and human rights defenders in the MENA region, as well as gaining insights into philanthropy, funding trends and skills in fundraising and project design.

The position would suit students or recently graduated young professionals available for a minimum of 3 days a week (up to 4 days according to availability) for a period of 6 months starting in October 2021. Depending on the intern’s individual learning goals and interests, which will be determined at the beginning of the internship, the Business Development Intern – MENA Region will gain exposure and knowledge of the following:

•  Understanding of trends in human rights and justice funding landscape, how to transform prospect research into actionable insights, how to redact convincing fundraising proposals and desk-based research relevant to DCI-WS and the MENA Regional Desk (access to justice, children in migration, violence against children…etc).
•  Insights into the EU policy landscape, funding trends and stakeholders relevant to Children’s rights in the MENA Region and collective advocacy opportunities (through coordination of the European sections and/or participation in Children’s rights coalitions)
• Exposure to a multicultural working environment and the dynamics of an international grassroots movements; understanding of small child rights organizations capacity and child rights defenders, and resources needs and how to support them (civil society strengthening)
• Skills to better organize and prioritize own work, time management especially whilst working across multiple time zones and adapting to the varying needs of the 38+ national DCI Sections supported worldwide

N.B: Please note that the following outline of tasks and responsibilities aims to provide an overview of potential tasks likely to be performed by the candidate – a detailed workplan will be agreed at the start of the internship and commensurate to the number of days of work confirmed.

Due to the focus on the MENA Region, candidates fluent or with a good command of Arabic are strongly encouraged to apply.

Job Specification

Research (50%):

• Conduct research into the MENA desk’s thematic priorities (alternatives to detention, human rights defenders, restorative justice, child-friendly justice, children affected by conflict and child participation), with particular attention to the impact of the Covid19 pandemic, to inform materials and project proposals
• Conduct research into funding landscape including trends, key players, prospect donors and competition analysis relevant to the work of the MENA Regional desk, and that of its national sections active in the region
• Understand and leverage untapped opportunities to meet the needs of national sections in the region (i‧e. digital security, governance, advocacy… and other training needs); input into a “Capacity Building” toolkit for national sections and Child Rights Defenders, in liaison with Regional Coordinator

Contribute lessons learnt and recommendations for uptake by other Regional Desks (Europe, Africa, Americas) Fundraising Support and Project Design (40%)

• Help elaborate Ethical Fundraising Policy document, in consultation with MENA Regional Desk and World Service Coordinator
• Produce templates that would improve efficiency and collaboration between WSF and the MENA Regional Desk (i‧e. country-specific funding opportunities, translation of newsletter and other templates…etc)
• Monitor funding opportunities and background research into donors profile, help compile short donors profile and/or key summaries of funding opportunities for dissemination to national sections and/or the International secretariat once a month
• Help update and populate WSF’s Fundraising Opportunities database on Sharepoint, ensuring details are up-to-data and key relationships are identified and established whenever possibleSupport the development of fundraising proposals to specific donors and of generic concept notes in support of national sections’ fundraising efforts Other (10%)
•  Administration support and participation in staff meetings when relevant
• Provide general support to the WSF and occasionally, other members of DCI sections

Education and skills requirements

• In the pursuit of, or having just completed a university degree - preferably in the field of international relations, development studies, political science, communications, or similar;
•  Research skills with the ability to pay close attention to detail;  Excellent oral and written communication in English, knowledge of Arabic highly desirable and any other languages (Spanish, French) would be an asset
• Good organizational skills and ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously within a demanding environment.
• Interest for children’s fundamental rights

How to apply

Please send your CV and Cover letter (no more than 1 page) to Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser. by the 11st of October

Shortlisted applicants will be contacted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Remuneration:

The internship is a paid position fixed at 1,000Euros / month pro rata of the number of days completed (I‧e. 800Euros a month / 4 days a week, 600Euros a month 3 days a week etc.

Location:

The position is based in Brussels though remote working arrangements alongside punctual office days (i.e. once a week) can be discussed.

Download PDF version