Hello everyone.
I'm Minahil Tauseef I'm from [INAUDIBLE] Pakistan,
and I'm going to be a junior here at Mount Holyoke.
And majoring in international relations
with a minor in public policy and [INAUDIBLE]..
And this internship was part of my Nexus minor.
So this summer, I interned in Washington, DC
at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
So IFES is an international non-profit organization
that provides support for elections in new
or emerging democracies all over the world.
It was a very large organization with a very wide spread
global impact, as we will see.
[INAUDIBLE] provided assistance in 145 countries
and currently has field offices in over 30 countries
all over the world.
So an interesting experience was one morning
we had breakfast-- all the interns had
breakfast with the CEO of our organization.
And while talking to him, I found out
that he himself was in Pakistan during the 2013
national elections.
And it was really interesting to hear
about his perspective on our elections and the work
that IFES had done collaborating with the election
division of Pakistan.
So I know the first question for a lot of first years
and sophomores is how to find an internship.
So this internship was part of the international internship
program at the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives.
Kirk is here who has [INAUDIBLE] you
can talk to him if you're more interested.
So for this particular internship
I actually went to apply twice.
I had to apply first to the IIP.
And then I also had to apply through their own online
application portal.
And it was a long process because after [INAUDIBLE]
that I had to fill out.
And afterwards, there was an interview.
So IFES works to advance the governance
and democratic rights by providing technical assistance
to election officials, applying field-based research to improve
the electoral cycle and empowering the under
represented to participate in the political process.
So my work had to do with the third point
because I worked specifically in the general elections
department.
I was working towards increasing the political participation
of the women in emerging democracies.
These are just some of the issues of the gender
in elections team dealt with.
And one of the most important was violence
against women in elections.
So in the organization, we had to put
teams devoted to different regions, like Latin
America, South Asia, et cetera.
But the gender team was [INAUDIBLE] programs
in different regions.
So Zimbabwe, Kenya, Haiti, Guatemala, Tanzania,
are just some of the examples of the countries
that I helped with and that our team
was working on this summer.
I'd like to give you an idea of how the gender team worked.
They would conduct gender analysis in these regions
and integrate the gender perspective
into all IFES programs.
And then work with field offices to provide advanced election
management bodies and civil service
organizations to integrate women empowerment into all
of their work.
They also conducted their own [INAUDIBLE] activities
to increase governance agency as both elected representatives
and voters.
So what I did in the organization was--
so a lot of my work was research related.
So whatever projects they were working on,
I would provide research related to the situation of women
in those countries.
I provided project management support
for global gender programs.
To give you an example, my supervisor
went to Kenya for two weeks during my internship.
So I facilitated her work there by carrying out
research and data related to electoral violence in Kenya,
and provided her with whatever resources she needed.
And in my research it was surprising to me
just how prevalent violence against women in elections is.
Just in the 2007 presidential election in Kenya 1,100 people
died, 600,000 were displaced, and women and children
were burned alive.
And in a country like the US, you
wouldn't even think that the electoral process in emerging
democracy was so more [INAUDIBLE] political violence.
Violence is often used as a tool to discourage women
from seeking public office.
So I also provided logistical and administrative support
to the gender group.
This was mostly in the form of a lot of writing and editorial
work.
So I updated old documents for internal use.
For example, I compiled a list of all the tools and resources
used by the gender team.
And I updated their donor profiles.
Their donors were [INAUDIBLE] global affairs, Canada, US Aid,
et cetera.
So I attended internal meetings.
And this where I learned a lot about the workings
of a nonprofit organization and the international development
sector.
It was interesting to see how IFES would receive
potential projects from the US agency for International
development, stating their budget and goals.
And then IFES would put together a proposal
stating why they should be chosen for the budget,
and how they intend to achieve those goals.
For example, one of the first meetings
I attended was to discuss a proposal from US Aid Office
explain why a million dollar to increase transparency
in election administration.
One meeting I attended was to debrief the gender work done
in Haiti where IFES had implemented a woman [INAUDIBLE]
had implemented a project and provide
legal assistance to female candidates,
and connected to the other administrative.
So it's important to take initiative
during your internship.
So when I heard about the success of their work done
in Haiti, I offered to write an article which
was later published at the organization's website.
Lastly, I provided social media support
by managing the IFES gender Twitter
account, which was something I worked on every day.
So my supervisor was really great.
And she really wanted me to get the most out
of my experience in DC.
And so she would send me to attend and report
on events related to gender issues
at various organizations.
One of the first events I attended
was a community market at the Health Committee
on Foreign Affairs on Capitol Hill
where I saw the House pass the Women, Peace, and Security
Act of 2017.
This was really interesting to see the Congress in action.
And I also was able to see Congress pass
four other bipartisan measures.
I went to the Georgetown Institute for Women Peace
and Security where I saw the launch of a research study
on the role of women in transitional justice.
I also went to the National Democratic Institute,
where I attended a [INAUDIBLE] to discuss
how to address challenges faced by LGBTI communities
in the political process.
And I attended a discussion at the United States Institute
for Peace where experts from USIP and the World Bank
discussed the world development report for 2017.
So my internship provided a lot more than just the work I did,
by my entire overall summer experience,
which was great, because I lived in DC,
and I absolutely love living there.
This was my first time living completely independently.
I had a great apartment.
I had [INAUDIBLE] with me.
And we had a lot of fun together.
There was a lot to do and a lot to see.
[INAUDIBLE] who you best summers of my life.
And while went way over budget, it
would have not have been possible
without [INAUDIBLE] you guys.
[INAUDIBLE]
But it was definitely worth it.
And it wouldn't have been possible without LYNK funding.
So I'm very grateful to Mt.
Holyoke.
And I would advise all the first years and sophomores
in this room to take advantage of all the opportunities
the school has to offer.
Thank you so much for coming out [INAUDIBLE]..
[APPLAUSE]