Office of International Programs

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA)
About: The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance – International IDEA – is an intergovernmental organization that supports sustainable democracy worldwide. Its objective is to strengthen democratic institutions and processes. International IDEA acts as a catalyst for democracy building by providing knowledge resources, policy proposals and supporting democratic reforms in response to specific national requests. It works together with policy makers, governments, UN organizations and agencies and regional organizations engaged in the field of democracy building.

Intern Responsibilities: The objective of the internship is to provide a learning opportunity for an interested and talented student within a relevant study area. The intern is expected to act as part of the team, learning from all team members in their different capacities. The IIP intern, under the guidance of the Head of Finance & Strategic Planning, shall perform the following duties- will provide dedicated research, analytical and administrative support to the Strategic Planning Unit. A specific research project will be agreed to be undertaken for the duration of the internship.The internship period will coincide with the annual  review of International IDEA’s strategy,the improvement of reporting and planning tools,the development of International IDEA’s global programme of activities for 2017,and a process of continuous improvement in monitoring and evaluating  the results of International IDEA’s work worldwide. The intern will have plenty of opportunity to be part of these core institutional processes - in the way of assisting.
 
Qualifications: Candidates with least two years of undergraduate studies completed, preferably with a major in International Relations, Public Policy or Business Administration; strong English language skills (written and oral); strong user-level computer literacy (Word, Excel, Powerpoint). Spanish, French or Arabic language skills would be an asset and previous international experience (through work, studies or travel) would be an asset.  Other preferred skills- ability to compile, assess and structure information; write clearly and concisely;to be able to work both in a team and autonomously; to respect deadlines; to respect and value diversity in the workplace. 

Previous work responsibilities (in the words of the previous IIP intern): My main task was to assist in updating the Direct Democracy (DD) section of International IDEA’s Unified Database. Specifically, this involved editing, formatting, and revising country-level data on legal provisions for DD instruments. In almost all cases, most of the relevant information was already available in the form of questionnaires completed by external researchers. I conducted research to find relevant legal text where necessary and searched for additional legislation to supplement and verify the information provided in the questionnaires. I edited and uploaded data to the Unified Database for a total of 15 countries, with an emphasis on European countries that have complex legal provisions for DD instruments. As part of this effort, I also compiled a checklist on how to edit and upload data on DD to the Unified Database. This mostly involved gathering existing guidelines on how to classify and organize the data for certain questions in the questionnaire. I added my own suggestions to the checklist where relevant. In addition to updating the database, I engaged in other tasks as a member of the Electoral Processes team. I drafted a background memo on the Association of World Electoral Bodies (A-WEB) for internal use and edited the first draft of the 2014-2017 strategy development document for the Electoral Processes Team. I also revised the Korean translation of an informational brochure for the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network.

View powerpoints by past interns:
IDEA Intern #1
IDEA Intern #2