2006 Summer Internships
Program details
The following CLA-ACE internships were offered for the summer of 2006. Click here to see some reflections from the field from our 2006 interns.
Canadian Lawyers Abroad – Avocats canadiens à l’étranger
Intern: Robyn Kennedy, University of Dalhousie
Position: CLA-ACE is a not-for-profit organization that is committed to serving the legal needs of developing countries by harnessing the experience and skills of Canadian lawyers in the areas of good governance, the rule of law and human rights.
Background: CLA-ACE was incorporated as a not-for-profit in 2005 and has grown quickly as a young and vibrant Canadian organization. The organization has both a Student Program and an International Pro Bono Program for lawyers. The Student Program includes a Student Chapter program and a Summer Internship Program. To date, CLA-ACE has six Student Chapters nation-wide that participate in a variety of educational activities consistent with the organization’s mandate. The Student Internship program is offering nine different positions this summer to law students, including six overseas (Kosovo, East Timor, Thailand, Ghana) and three in Canada (Yukon and Ottawa/Toronto). The International Pro Bono Program has launched its pilot project with the Kosovo Law Centre and Heenan Blaikie LLP.
Location: Ottawa, Toronto, or other (flexibile)
Job Description: CLA-ACE seeks a summer intern to assist the staff in developing the 2006-2007 Student Chapter program. This will include developing next year’s theme, drafting materials on the theme, researching possible speakers, and interacting with the presidents of the Student Chapters. The intern will also help to coordinate the summer internship program, assist with the monitoring of the process and feedback stages. Other tasks may include legal research, fundraising research, drafting of press releases, interacting with various legal faculty personnel, and interacting with the media.
Desired Skills:
- Knowledge of the mandate and goals of the organization
- Communication skills
- Drafting skills
- Research skills
- Confidence
- Self-starter and creative thinker
- Entrepreneurial
Period: May-August (flexible)
ECPAT
Intern: Beverley Lane, University of Windsor
Position: Internship with the Bangkok-based international secretariat of ECPAT, an international child rights organization that works to eliminate the commercial sexual exploitation of children. The ECPAT acronym stands for ‘ End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes’.
Background: ECPAT is a network of organisations and individuals working together to eliminate the commercial sexual exploitation of children. It seeks to encourage the world community to ensure that children everywhere enjoy their fundamental rights free from all forms of commercial sexual exploitation. ECPAT works with a specific focus on international legal instruments and national laws related to the commercial sexual exploitation of children, particularly child prostitution, child pornography, and child trafficking for sexual purposes.
Location: Bangkok, Thailand.
Job Description: The focus of the intern’s work will be researching national legislation and procedures relating to ECPAT’s mandate. The intern will also be expected to assist the Programme Officer (Legal Programme) to support ECPAT initiatives. The intern will research and collect legislation defining and prohibiting the creation, possession, use, display, etc. of child pornography, on a country-by-country basis. Depending upon the time available, the intern may then research and collect legislation, on a country-by-country basis, defining and prohibiting child prostitution and related activities, such as solicitation, legalization and decriminalization of prostitution, etc.
Essential Skills:
- Experience in working with human rights and social development issues specifically as these relate to the rights of children
- Exposure to children’s rights or other social issues
Desirable Skills:
- Ability to communicate effectively in major languages used by members of the ECPAT network e.g. Spanish and/or French
- Experience in working with children
Period: May – August (could be extended to December).
Kosovo Law Centre
Read the Internship Report (PDF 237kb)
Intern: Vukica Djuric, University of Ottawa
Intern: Ada Lam, University of British Columbia
Position: Internship with the Kosovo Law Centre (KLC), a human rights and humanitarian law organization based in Kosovo. (Two internship positions available.)
Background: KLC was established in June 2000, as an independent, nonprofit, non-governmental organization. It was founded by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Mission in Kosovo (OSCE/OMIK), Department of Human Rights and Rule of Law. The goal in creating KLC was to cultivate the professional skills of local legal talent in order to establish a locally run, independent and sustainable NGO that embodies, develops and promotes democratic principals, multiculturalism, high ethical standards, the rule of law and respect for human rights. The KLC serves as a legal think-tank devoted to the development of the rule of law and the promotion of human rights. The KLC is neutral, unbiased and strictly nonpolitical in nature.
Location: Pristina, Kosovo.
Job Description: KLC interns work on a variety of projects to support the needs of the permanent staff, including legal and political research, working in the KLC library, writing articles for publication, working on a training program for the anti-discrimination law, and other tasks as necessary. Possible research this summer includes exploring various legal issues surrounding a lasting Kosovo status settlement and the Kosovo Action Plan on Human Trafficking.
Desirable Skills:
- Research and writing skills
- Self-motivated
Period: May-August (with flexibility on either end).
Arctic Athabaskan Council
Read the Internship Report (PDF 79kb)
Intern: Michael Fleischmann, Osgoode
Position: Internship with the Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC), an international treaty organization established to represent the interests of United States and Canadian Athabaskan member First Nation governments in Arctic Council fora, and to foster a greater understanding of the common heritage of all Athabaskan peoples of Arctic North America.
Background: The ACC was established in 2000. The founding members of AAC include four Alaskan Athabaskan communities and three Athabaskan representative bodies on the Canadian side (the Council of Yukon First Nations, the Dene Nation, and Métis Nation-Northwest Territories.) In total, Arctic Athabaskan founding member governments represent approximately 32,000 indigenous peoples of Athabaskan descent residing in Arctic and Sub-Arctic North America. As more member governments from both the United States (Alaska) and Canada join, this number is expected to increase to approximately 40,000.
The objective of the AAC is to create an international organization for northern peoples of Athabaskan descent. Its principle purpose is foster greater understanding of the common heritage of all Arctic Athabaskan peoples of Canada and the United States and to represent the Athabaskan peoples of Arctic Canada and the United States as a permanent participant in the Arctic Council.
Location: Whitehorse, Yukon (Temperature in the summer averages 20 C but can go as high as 25 C)
Job Description: This position includes creating a community resource binder on the issue of climate change for the benefit of northern communities. The binder would include: information on climate change; current research that has been done in the north on this issue; a list of the existing government programs (relevant to northern communities) designed to facilitate the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol; and the legal implications of the Kyoto Protocol for people in the north. This research will include determining the legal status of “sinks”, “credits” and “sequestration” for the purposes of the Kyoto protocol and analyzing whether or not communities can apply for funds in exchange for reductions that will be used towards meeting Canada’s Kyoto target. The intern would also be assisting the ACC with its charitable status application. The intern could also, if interested, pursue research in the area of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its implications for the protection of indigenous knowledge as intellectual property.
Desirable Skills:
- Excellent research, writing skills
- Experience proposal writing, writing reports, and public speaking
Assistance:
- Possibility of host organization providing some funding for intern.
Period: May-August (with flexibility on either end).
Journalists for Human Rights
Read the Internship Report (PDF 420kb)
Read the Internship Report: Prisoners’ Rights in Ghana (PDF 298kb)
Read Dispatch from Ghana – Chelsea Paradis, University of Ottawa
Intern: Edudzi Ofori, University of Ottawa
Intern: Chelsea Paradis, University of Ottawa
Position: Internship with Journalists for Human Rights (JHR), a growing charitable organization using innovative and proven techniques to reduce human rights abuses. By building the capacity of the media to report effectively on human rights issues, JHR’s work pressures abusers to stop and empowers victims to fight back. JHR works exclusively in Africa and North America. (Two internship positions available.)
Background: Since its founding in May 2002, JHR has run projects in various Africa countries and Canada. In Ghana, its largest African project, JHR has increased human rights coverage in the media by over 65%, leading to a quantifiable reduction in human rights abuses. In Canada, JHR has established fifteen Chapters (or clubs) at journalism schools across the country, actively engaging over 10% of Canada’s journalism students in human rights reporting. JHR has offices in Accra, Ghana and Toronto, Canada.
Location: Accra, Ghana
Job Description: Interns will research human rights law as provided for under Ghana’s constitution, as well as Ghana’s international obligations. Further research will involve looking at the systems/procedures in place to ensure that human rights are protected and that those who have complaints/concerns about violations have recourse within the system. This will involve identifying gaps in the system’s structure and procedures. Based on this research, interns will compile a manual to present at workshops explaining the basic tenets of human rights law from a Ghana perspective in light of both its domestic and international obligations. Additional work may include compiling more specific research on Ghana human rights law as it pertains to women and children. Interns may also provide legal support to JHR journalists and media partner organizations based in Ghana and potentially take part in workshops designed to increase the understanding of Ghana-based journalists of human rights law.
Essential Skills:
- Extremely self-motivated
- Adaptable cross-culturally
- Professional demeanor (even in frustrating circumstances)
- Excellent oral written and communication skills
- Open to new experiences
Period: mid-May-August (with flexibility on either end)
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