FUFbladet # 4 2011
Terminens sista FUF-blad behandlar de mänskliga rättigheterna ur olika perspektiv. Redaktionen var med på MR-dagarna i Kulturhuset vilket resulterat i artiklar om bland annat klimatflyktingar, migration, säkerhetsfrågor och statslöshet.
Mercy Corps Scotland was set up in Edinburgh in 1990 as Scottish European Aid is an international non governmental organisation with headquarters in Edinburgh, Portland, Oregon, Washington DC (USA) and China. Currently working in thirty five countries around the world, the organisation delivers emergency relief, rehabilitation and long term development programmes in countries stricken by [...]Background
Swedish Development Forum, FUF, is a politically and religiously independent non-governmental organisation arranging more than 25 public seminars, conferences and debates a year. Focus is on developing countries and international issues. More information about the current and former seminars is found at www.fuf.se.
FUF has approximately 900 members, and over 50% are students at universities. FUF has been promoting internships to students since 1986. First on a small scale but now the service encompasses about 40 organisations, authorities and institutions in Sweden and some abroad. Every year 150-250 students from universities all around Sweden apply for the internships.
We have now reorganised the internship service a bit, making it more flexible to both organisations as well as to the students who wants to gain experience.
Why an Internship service?
FUF started the internship service as we through the seminar activities met many students. There was a great need of having insight in how development organisations work and to get qualified experience and valuable contacts for the future. Many organisations need extra resources which can be provided by these interns. Organisations also get an insight in students’ situation and the knowledge of how young people see the organisation and its activities. In that way, the internship activity favours both parties. The internship service also provides FUF with new active members, and we consider it as a very central part of our long-term goal; to contribute to in-depth knowledge about development issues and an increased engagement for a fair and sustainable world.
Who can apply for internship at FUF?
The basic requirements are that candidates are or have been students at universities or colleges of higher education within the last 12 months. They also need to be members of FUF and to be interested in international issues. The last requirement is reflected in for example in the choice of study, voluntary work, international experiences and languages skills. Students apply by filling in the application form and attaching a personal letter, a CV and university certificates. The majority of the applicants have very good qualifications, both when it comes to studies and experiences of development issues and staying abroad in developing countries. Others have not come that far in their studies or have less practical experience. Students apply for the internships on the basis of the information that the organisations have submitted to FUF before every application round. It is, therefore, an advantage if the information about what kind of knowledge, experiences and qualities that are asked for, and what kind of work tasks that can become topical, are as specific as possible.
How does the internship service work?
Before every application round, FUF sends an inquiry to the organisations and asks if they have the possibility to receive interns during the coming year. On the basis of the information that the organisations submit, the internships which are offered by FUF are published on our webpage. The internships are also announced directly to student members of FUF, to all the universities and to other meeting places for students/young adults. Links to receiving organisations, and all the necessary information about the application are found on the webpage of FUF. The application rounds are in the beginning of respective term, but one is also free to send an inquiry about an intern at any time during the year.
After the expired date for applying in autumn and spring, FUF processes all the applications, matches them with the requirements of the work places, and distributes internships to the best qualified students according to carefully prepared methods. When processing is finished, the organisations receive a mail with suggestions of the candidate/s, and their respective applications. When the organisation has come to a decision on who/which they want to receive, the student/s are informed and asked to contact the responsible person at the organisation.
FUF does not interview candidates for the internships. Thus the system is based on the organisations having confidence in FUF’s judgement. After deciding on an intern we suggest that you perform your own telephone interview with him/her in order to check out language and/or other important matters. Let us know if we can be of any further help, although interviewing all interns would not be possible for us. If you are not happy with the intern you can always ask for new suggestions.
As a way of ensuring the quality of the interns and the organisation’s work, FUF asks both the intern and their contact person to fill in an evaluation form. We continuously stay in contact with the interns during their time abroad, and they also write a report on their internship period, which is published at our webpage. FUF also tries to involve these former interns in our information work.
What is the assignment of the work places?
The receiving organisation undertakes to receive one or several interns (in accordance to the attached form). The intern should have a contact person/mentor. We need to know the approximate period of time and the scope of the internship, required competence of the intern, such as area of studies, language skills, international experience, computer skills, area/s of interest. The work tasks – which should not just be unqualified administrative issues (although for a start that might be part of the work). We also need short general information about the work of the organisation.
As a receiving organisation you don’t have any financial obligation towards neither the intern nor to FUF, as the service is free of charge. As we put many months of effort into this service every year we do appreciate that organisations tries to accept the interns they have once asked for. Some organisations have the possibility to fund the interns’ local travel, lunch costs or other small sums, which is appreciated but not compulsory. FUF can most of the time supply interns with a basic grant that covers travel and part of their stay.
Looking forward to working with you and please let us know if you have further questions!
Yours Sincerely
Eva Åberg
