Project profile — Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development - International Internships 2013-2014

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (i) increased awareness among female and male Canadian youth of the equal possibility of working internationally; (ii) enhanced equal employability of female and male International Youth Internship Program (IYIP) interns in Canada and in the field of international development; and (iii) improved capacity of female and male IYIP interns to contribute to international development in a gender-sensitive way.

Interagency Coalition on Aids and Development (S065695) coordinated 20 (18 F and 2 M) internships in 11 countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominican Republic, Bangladesh, Thailand, Suriname, Vietnam, Tanzania, Uganda, Lesotho and South Africa). Results achieved as of the end of the project (March 2014): Interns have gained and identified tangible skills. As a result, one intern has been offered a position with her host-organization; three interns have been offered additional internships; nine interns intend to pursue additional education; and seven interns intend to look for work in international development. Interns also contributed to the World AIDS Day blog series by using various mediums (text, photo, video) and exposed to a wide general audience the nature of HIV vulnerabilities in diverse global settings while increasing awareness and knowledge of the IYIP program. A probative result is the interns’ increased understanding of the connections between gender inequality, poverty, food insecurity, vulnerability/resiliency and the effects of marginalization on HIV and health. Interns had contributed positively to the development objectives of host organizations. ICAD, as host organization, has experienced a dramatic increase in traffic on the Development Voices Blog due to the influx of new content, with 2,051 visits and 4926 pages views indicating visitors an average of 2.4 pages per visit.