Israel: African Refugee Information Officer Internship
Country: Israel
Closing date: 13 Oct 2013
Information Officer Internship
4 months minimum, 18 hours per week
Start Date: ASAP
ARDC
The African Refugee Development Center (ARDC) is a non-profit organization founded in 2004 by refugees and Israeli citizens to assist, support and empower refugees and asylum seekers in Israel. The ARDC seeks to ensure access to basic social services, and to facilitate refugee and asylum seeker integration, self-sufficiency and ownership in matters affecting their lives. The ARDC advocates for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers and for a humane and fair Israeli asylum policy. It divides its work between individual counseling, humanitarian aid, legal support, education, community development, awareness-raising, and policy initiatives.
The AAA team
Objective of the AAA Project: To ensure that asylum seekers in the State of Israel have greater opportunity to realise their human right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution through promoting a fair and just asylum application process.
Main activities of the AAA project: establishing proof of nationality for non-detained and detained asylum seekers eligible for group protection; renewing work visas; assisting individuals apply for refugee status; filing appeals and legal proceedings; providing psychological assistance; advising on deportation and voluntary resettlement; broadly distributing information to refugee community; monitoring development of asylum regime; instituting strategic litigation to promote community-wide policy change; publishing reports on findings and recommendations; disseminating information; advocating before UN; strengthening ties and cooperation with authorities.
The Information Officer is the first and last face for refugees, new volunteers, donors and staff from other NGOs. You will be working as part of the Asylum Application Assistance team. Refugees with many different problems and queries come on a daily basis to ARDC needing help and support. The main job of the Information Officer is to spend time talking to the clients, assessing their situation and deciding how best to help them. Some clients will be in delicate and stressful situations, therefore very strong people skills and a caring nature are required. The job is fast paced with on the spot decision making needed. With training you will gain an extensive knowledge of how the refugee system in Israel works and all the facilities available to help them. This is an ideal position to begin working in the field of international development. Please not there may be times when the work us quiet, you will be encouraged to take on other aspects of the daily running of the office.
Responsibilities
• Assessing needs of all visitors to the office
• Directing clients to the appropriate facility to help them
• Receiving clients, being supportive and caring whilst hearing their stories
• Assisting the AAA team in other tasks when required
• Ensuring good organisation and communication between the AAA team, other ARDC projects and external organisations
Qualifications/Skills
• High level of Hebrew and fluent English. Some level of Arabic, French, Tigrinya or Amharic are beneficial
• Reliability, able to work independently, creative, flexible, positive
• B.A. level in Humanities, social sciences, communications, or any other relevant field (or currently studying)
• Previous experience in the field of human rights – helpful
• Strong organisational and computer skills required
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
Please note all ARDC internship positions are unpaid. We do not provide accommodation, travel or health insurance.
How to apply:
Please fill in the application form and send with your CV to the email address on the form.
