Career opportunities

Internships

IFHHRO takes great pride and efforts in involving students and other young people in its work. Over the years, several foreign students came over to the IFHHRO headquarter in Utrecht, the Netherlands, to learn about health and human rights work and assist IFHHRO's very small staff in the implementation of the activities.

At this moment there are no openings for internships. For questions or remarks, do not hesitate to contact us

Here are some experiences shared by IFHHRO interns:

Annika Boh, (October - December 2011)
I am Annika Boh, a master student International Law in Nijmegen, with a special interest in human rights. During my final year of study I wanted to do an internship at an international organization, to see and experience how things work there. I am really glad I found IFHRRO. This internship learnt me all the ins and outs of an international organization which works with human rights. In the beginning I worked on the coordination of the translators, which was a quite administrative job, but by doing this I really got to know what IFHHRO does as an organization. So later on I did a variety of assignments; I developed session plans, I helped out during the Training of Trainers, I made the ‘Up to Date’ for all the members and in the end I even facilitated a training for students. Because the warm working environment and they way your colleagues involve you in the organization and their work, you feel immediately welcome and appreciated. After my three month-internship I learnt a lot, because during my study much is only theory, this was a great experience to learn how human rights are used in practice.

Victor Maertens (June & July 2011)
IFHHRO, an organization with a lengthy name provides its interns with the true experience of what it would be to work for the organization. There is no running out to get coffee or photocopying countless pages for others to read. This humble International Secretariat of IFHHRO, located in Utrecht incorporates its interns into the work environment as viable contributors. In regards to the work, the interns function in an advisory capacity, doing research, and arranging for translations, among other tasks all of which have a relatively large degree of independence. This implies that actual time is also invested while working and that there is a substantial but not overwhelming amount of literature to read which informs and teaches individuals about a topic which is vast, current and pressing in our global political, social and medical fields. Interns have the opportunity to learn about this often overlooked issue, one which is often not yet addressed in medical curricula, another endeavour of IFHHRO. While you might begin with little knowledge or believe that you have a grasp of at least the basics, the experience will allow you to learn more and build upon your understanding.
I interned at IFHHRO for two month and in that time, I researched human rights approaches to health, I worked with individuals volunteering their time to translate documents, communicated with different IFHHRO affiliates about their work and helped prepare the IFHHRO delegation travelling to Denmark to train an international group of medical students about the importance of human rights in their work.
Apart from an appealing intellectual experience, the people at IFHHRO are also friendly and welcoming. The IFHHRO employees are open to their interns and volunteers making them feel comfortable and included, respecting different cultural and linguistic barriers. It is an internationally aware workforce. IFHHRO creates a welcoming atmosphere, one where the opinions of there interns are respected as well.
When I was looking for an internship, I read the information available on the IFHHRO website and had a rough idea about what IFHHRO did and the topic which they worked with. Yet only upon arriving here and being to work did I truly understand their work. The literature which I went through provided me with a different perspective on issues I was already aware of and raised issues which I had previously not given as much thought. What is more, you learn about the fascinating efforts by different individuals and organizations in the pursuit of improving living situations globally.

Sukanya Deshraj (July & August 2010)
Whilst completing my LLM in Public International Law at Utrecht University, I interned at IFHHRO 2-3 times per week between July – August 2010. Academically, my research focused on the right to mental health under international human rights law. Thus my responsibilities at IFHHRO included developing the mental health section of the Wiki. The purpose of the Wiki is to provide health professionals with comprehensive guidance on the right to health, such that they can monitor their governments’ compliance with the right to health standards. The experience was immensely valuable as I was given the licence to create the Wiki based on the direction of my research. Legal and written skills were exercised as I ‘translated’ legal language into use friendly guidance. Working at IFHHRO not only taught me about its operation but I also gained an understanding of the complex nature of the right to health monitoring process.

Naida Ahmetovic (April - July 2010)
My name is Naida Ahmetovic and I am 22 years old. I am a third year law student at Utrecht University. Even though I love my study, it is very theoretical and I wanted to experience it in a more practical way. That is the main reason I wanted to do an internship and eventually I came to IFHHRO. I started at the end of April 2010 and interned one day per week. At first I chose five countries (Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Romania and Turkey) and investigated how the right to health was guaranteed in their law books. Later I investigated whether these countries had ratified the main treaties concerning the human rights and whether they had made reservations. The results were posted on the Wiki as well.
At this time I am very occupied with my courses, so I won’t be able to attend every week at IFHHRO, but after some time I will be back. I love the atmosphere here and the cause where the people work here for is even better. Everyone should have access to the right to health and I am very glad that there are organizations like IFHHRO that are trying to make that possible.