Reflections on my internship

Following an eventful series of Commissions and UN gatherings, my internship at the BIC is quickly coming to an end. It’s difficult to reflect on my life-changing nine-month internship at the BIC without digressing into the realm of nostalgic.  The sheer volume and diversity of work undertaken by the BIC during the last nine-months makes providing a comprehensive summary of events far too difficult for one post to explore. I think a few personal favorite experiences and highlights would make for better journalistic endeavors and enjoyable internet reading.

CSW 53

I began my internship in October—a hectic time in the office, as staff were saturated in preparations for the UN’s largest Commission—the Commission on the Status of Women (53). As a result of the intensity of the time, my first few weeks on the job consisted of immersing myself in the inner workings of the The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and The Division for the Advancement of Women’s website, while reviewing piles upon piles of background documents and essays, Expert Group Meeting summaries, and previous Commission outcomes and their agreed conclusions.

My internship duties during the first two months could easily be summarized in the following words:

Read. Summarize. Organize. Discuss. Repeat.

Read. Summarize. Organize. Discuss. Repeat.

The expectations were high, the workload immense, the time short and the experience remarkable. All of the hours of intense preparations which included various UN roundtable events, BIC statement writing and editing sessions, online discussions and delegation coordination enabled the BIC to enter the CSW with a well-prepared and extremely qualified group of male and female delegates. In addition to their numerous successful formal presentations, BIC delegates also organized creative events during the CSW such as a photo exhibition and a theatrical performance.

The BIC delegation accounted for about 40 of the nearly 5,000 people who attended this year’s CSW. My favorite part of the CSW was getting to know our delegates. They were incredibly talented, amazing people from a variety of professions and countries. I so deeply enjoyed the quiet conversations we had about their work in the field of gender equality and their personal stories of challenge and triumph. These simple moments in the midst of physical exhaustion kept our spirits and energy levels at their highest and are my fondest memories of the Commission.

BIC Blog

Before starting my internship, I had never blogged before. I had never even thought about blogging. So when I was asked to kick-start the blog postings on the new intern page, I was a little scared and worried about putting my thoughts out into the virtual world. But in reality, blogging for the BIC was quite possibly my favorite part of my internship!

Creating the blog has been an amazing learning experience for the entire office. We worked (are continuing to work) really hard together to create a vision and direction for the site. The feedback has been very positive and the process has been really fun. I particularly loved blogging during the Commission on Sustainable Development. So many interesting and important things happened each day, which made finding topics and inspirations for blog postings very easy. I especially loved blogging about the urban farm tour that we took. The tour was such a powerful experience and I was very excited to share the information that I learned. Being involved in the blog was also a great opportunity for me to periodically escape the technical, jargon-heavy academic world that is the United Nations and to slip into a quieter zone of creative non-friction writing.

In addition to the blog, the BIC created a Facebook group with videos, news articles, interviews and photos from UN events and BIC gatherings. These new outlets help people to understand the work and purpose of the BIC and the opportunities that exist for collaboration and involvement. The BIC Facebook group is growing quickly in popularity, with over 2,000 people joining within the two weeks of its creation. The site may be found by searching for "Baha'i International Community" on Facebook.

Final Tears

Although my internship is ending, the BIC’s work in the area of human rights, social and economic development, environmental protection and the advancement of women continues at full speed. The continuation of the intensity of this work is contingent upon the help of interns and volunteers. Being an intern at the BIC has been such a positive and life-changing experience. I highly recommend that each person interested in becoming an intern contact the BIC. The staff is incredibly kind and supportive and is always seeking energetic, motivated people to assist them in their work.

Honestly, the BIC is the place to be!

Many thanks to everyone who made my internship so wonderful!

Krisy