Part of APWLD’s strength as an organisation is providing a forum for networking among women activists and empowering women personally and professionally to work in their own communities. One of the many ways it does this is through its internship programme, which gives young women the opportunity to get hands-on experience in a regional NGO, while providing APWLD with free skills and labour.
Jeannie Patterson
APWLD intern, Canada

I came to APWLD through the Centre for Asia Pacific Initiatives (CAPI) based at the University of Victoria, Canada. As part of its work engaging with the region, the centre facilitates an internship programme where it sends young professionals to its partner NGOs in the Asia Pacific region, including APWLD. I applied to APWLD through CAPI after receiving my B.A. and my L.LB with a speciality in international human rights law. The position APWLD offered perfectly combined my interests in law, women’s rights and development.

My time at APWLD has been spent largely in the violence against women and women’s human rights programmes. I have been assisting in organising our meetings and consultations as well as working on the reports and documents that result from them. This has given me the opportunity to meet a variety of incredible women and to learn first hand about some of the issues specific to the Asia Pacific region. It has also allowed me to further my own education by moving beyond academic legal theories and constructs and seeing how women on the ground work towards justice, both within and beyond the formal legal systems. Equally importantly, I have been exposed to some of the challenges of working in the NGO world. Experiencing the politics, both within networks and amongst NGOs, the restrictive funding criteria and the vast limitations of organisations have been disappointing, but important lessons.

One of the constants that I have heard while being at APWLD is the importance of getting young women involved and participating in both the organisation and the movement. This is vital and means not only that they be encouraged to join, but that meaningful room is made for them. Internships are one way of giving young women a start in the movement, and it was inspiring that so many of our members, from the UN special rapporteurs to our grassroots members, have all told me the value of their interns. APWLD has a long history of supporting its interns, some of them going on to become secretariat staff and others continuing to be involved in the movement in various capacities. Like all organisations APWLD has its limitations, but it is important that we all work to ensure that one of its strengths remains giving encouragement and support to young women through internships, memberships and inclusion.

I will return to Canada and will take with me the skills and friendships that I have gained at APWLD. Moreover, as I continue in the women’s movement and working towards social justice, I will take the knowledge and lessons from the Asia Pacific region, as well as the example it has set as a space for giving all women the support and empowerment they need to continue in their struggles.