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Hello everyone.

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I'm Minahil Tauseef I'm
from [INAUDIBLE] Pakistan,

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and I'm going to be a junior
here at Mount Holyoke.

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And majoring in
international relations

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with a minor in public
policy and [INAUDIBLE]..

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And this internship was
part of my Nexus minor.

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So this summer, I
interned in Washington, DC

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at the International Foundation
for Electoral Systems.

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So IFES is an international
non-profit organization

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that provides support
for elections in new

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or emerging democracies
all over the world.

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It was a very large organization
with a very wide spread

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global impact, as we will see.

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[INAUDIBLE] provided
assistance in 145 countries

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and currently has field
offices in over 30 countries

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all over the world.

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So an interesting
experience was one morning

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we had breakfast--
all the interns had

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breakfast with the CEO
of our organization.

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And while talking
to him, I found out

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that he himself was in
Pakistan during the 2013

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national elections.

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And it was really
interesting to hear

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about his perspective on
our elections and the work

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that IFES had done
collaborating with the election

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division of Pakistan.

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So I know the first question
for a lot of first years

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and sophomores is how
to find an internship.

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So this internship was part of
the international internship

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program at the McCulloch
Center for Global Initiatives.

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Kirk is here who
has [INAUDIBLE] you

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can talk to him if
you're more interested.

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So for this
particular internship

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I actually went to apply twice.

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I had to apply first to the IIP.

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And then I also had to apply
through their own online

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application portal.

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And it was a long process
because after [INAUDIBLE]

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that I had to fill out.

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And afterwards, there
was an interview.

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So IFES works to
advance the governance

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and democratic rights by
providing technical assistance

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to election officials, applying
field-based research to improve

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the electoral cycle and
empowering the under

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represented to participate
in the political process.

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So my work had to do
with the third point

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because I worked specifically
in the general elections

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department.

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I was working towards increasing
the political participation

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of the women in
emerging democracies.

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These are just some of
the issues of the gender

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in elections team dealt with.

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And one of the most
important was violence

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against women in elections.

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So in the organization,
we had to put

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teams devoted to different
regions, like Latin

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America, South Asia, et cetera.

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But the gender team was
[INAUDIBLE] programs

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in different regions.

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So Zimbabwe, Kenya, Haiti,
Guatemala, Tanzania,

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are just some of the
examples of the countries

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that I helped with
and that our team

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was working on this summer.

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I'd like to give you an idea
of how the gender team worked.

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They would conduct gender
analysis in these regions

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and integrate the
gender perspective

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into all IFES programs.

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And then work with field offices
to provide advanced election

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management bodies
and civil service

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organizations to integrate
women empowerment into all

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of their work.

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They also conducted their
own [INAUDIBLE] activities

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to increase governance agency
as both elected representatives

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and voters.

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So what I did in the
organization was--

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so a lot of my work
was research related.

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So whatever projects
they were working on,

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I would provide research related
to the situation of women

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in those countries.

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I provided project
management support

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for global gender programs.

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To give you an
example, my supervisor

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went to Kenya for two
weeks during my internship.

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So I facilitated her work
there by carrying out

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research and data related to
electoral violence in Kenya,

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and provided her with
whatever resources she needed.

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And in my research it
was surprising to me

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just how prevalent violence
against women in elections is.

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Just in the 2007 presidential
election in Kenya 1,100 people

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died, 600,000 were displaced,
and women and children

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were burned alive.

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And in a country
like the US, you

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wouldn't even think that the
electoral process in emerging

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democracy was so more
[INAUDIBLE] political violence.

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Violence is often used as
a tool to discourage women

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from seeking public office.

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So I also provided logistical
and administrative support

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to the gender group.

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This was mostly in the form of
a lot of writing and editorial

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work.

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So I updated old documents
for internal use.

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For example, I compiled a list
of all the tools and resources

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used by the gender team.

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And I updated their
donor profiles.

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Their donors were [INAUDIBLE]
global affairs, Canada, US Aid,

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et cetera.

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So I attended internal meetings.

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And this where I learned
a lot about the workings

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of a nonprofit organization and
the international development

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sector.

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It was interesting to see
how IFES would receive

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potential projects from the
US agency for International

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development, stating
their budget and goals.

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And then IFES would
put together a proposal

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stating why they should
be chosen for the budget,

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and how they intend to
achieve those goals.

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For example, one of
the first meetings

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I attended was to discuss a
proposal from US Aid Office

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explain why a million dollar
to increase transparency

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in election administration.

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One meeting I attended was to
debrief the gender work done

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in Haiti where IFES had
implemented a woman [INAUDIBLE]

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had implemented a
project and provide

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legal assistance to
female candidates,

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and connected to the
other administrative.

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So it's important
to take initiative

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during your internship.

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So when I heard about the
success of their work done

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in Haiti, I offered to
write an article which

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was later published at the
organization's website.

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Lastly, I provided
social media support

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by managing the
IFES gender Twitter

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account, which was something
I worked on every day.

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So my supervisor
was really great.

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And she really wanted
me to get the most out

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of my experience in DC.

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And so she would send
me to attend and report

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on events related
to gender issues

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at various organizations.

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One of the first
events I attended

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was a community market
at the Health Committee

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on Foreign Affairs
on Capitol Hill

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where I saw the House pass
the Women, Peace, and Security

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Act of 2017.

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This was really interesting
to see the Congress in action.

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And I also was able
to see Congress pass

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four other bipartisan measures.

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I went to the Georgetown
Institute for Women Peace

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and Security where I saw the
launch of a research study

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on the role of women in
transitional justice.

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I also went to the National
Democratic Institute,

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where I attended a
[INAUDIBLE] to discuss

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how to address challenges
faced by LGBTI communities

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in the political process.

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And I attended a discussion
at the United States Institute

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for Peace where experts
from USIP and the World Bank

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discussed the world
development report for 2017.

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So my internship provided a lot
more than just the work I did,

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by my entire overall
summer experience,

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which was great,
because I lived in DC,

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and I absolutely
love living there.

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This was my first time living
completely independently.

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I had a great apartment.

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I had [INAUDIBLE] with me.

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And we had a lot
of fun together.

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There was a lot to
do and a lot to see.

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[INAUDIBLE] who you
best summers of my life.

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And while went way
over budget, it

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would have not
have been possible

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without [INAUDIBLE] you guys.

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[INAUDIBLE]

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But it was definitely worth it.

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And it wouldn't have been
possible without LYNK funding.

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So I'm very grateful to Mt.

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Holyoke.

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And I would advise all the
first years and sophomores

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in this room to take advantage
of all the opportunities

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the school has to offer.

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Thank you so much for
coming out [INAUDIBLE]..

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[APPLAUSE]

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