HoAGW4RP Internship Programme

Introduction

The Government of the Republic of Kenya (GoK), through the Ministry of Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation (MoWSI), has secured funding from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank for the HORN OF AFRICA GROUNDWATER FOR RESILIENCE PROJECT (HoAGW4RP). The Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation intends to deploy part of this funding to support Internship – (A programme established to provide unemployed graduates with opportunities for hands-on training for skills acquisition to enhance future employability and fulfil the legal requirement for professional registration) Program for the Financial Year 2025/2026. The Project Development Objective (PDO) of the HoAGW4RP is to enhance accessibility and promote sustainable management of groundwater in the Horn of Africa borderlands. The Project is being implemented for a period of five years, between July 2022 to December 2027 targeting to benefit approximately 1,500,000 people living in the rural communities of the five counties in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) namely, Turkana, Wajir, Garissa, Marsabit and Mandera. The project is focusing on the sustainable management and use of groundwater through aquifer assessment, restoration, recharge, and conservation activities in the target counties. Groundwater management will further be enhanced by improving the visibility of groundwater resources through policies, plans, regulations, and guidelines.

The project aims to build capacity of the professionals serving in the water sector for sustainability of the project impact. Component 2A of the project focuses on generating groundwater information and strengthening regional and national groundwater institutions. It is under this component that the project is supporting an internship program as one of the capacity building initiatives to be offered during the implementation of the project.

Targeted Applicants

The Internship program is targeting the young professionals particularly the young graduates (An individual who has completed a course of training and acquired a bachelor’s degree of diploma from a recognised institution of higher learning) with a bachelor degree certificates and having obtained the said qualification not more than two years before the date of this advertisement. It is envisaged that the internship program will bridge the gap between academic knowledge and real-world work as well as prepare the young graduates for successful careers by immersing them in practical work environments. The program will provide the young graduates with handson experience in various fields relevant to ground water development and management. The internship program is being coordinated by the Ministry of Water Sanitation and Irrigation (MoWSI) and managed by the Regional Centre on Groundwater Resources (RCGW). The enrolment, remuneration, quarterly monitoring and evaluation of the interns in the program will be done with adherence to the guidelines provided in Part II of the Public Service Internship Act 2023

Work Station

Interns (A graduate with relevant qualifications who has entered into a contract with an organization for a period of twelve months with the intent of gaining supervised practical experience to increase chances of employability) will be deployed to different agencies and counties implementing the HoAGW4R Project, referred to as the workstation where they can apply their academic knowledge and gain valuable insights. The interns will occasionally be engaged in the field assignments particularly during the implementation of the project activities at the 5 counties targeted in the HoAGW4R project.

Eligibility Criteria

The internship program is open to the young graduates with a bachelor degree certificates and having obtained the said qualification not more than two years before the date of this advertisement in the fields of geology, hydrogeology, environmental science, natural resources management, sociology and gender development studies, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS), ICT and communication, data science, chemistry, hydrometeorology or climate analysis, hydrology economics and finance.

The applicants must:

• Be between 18 and 35 years old
• Have completed and holds a Bachelor’s degree from a recognized institution.
• Have graduated not more than two (2) years earlier than the date of this advertisement.
• Should not have undertaken any other internship or exposed to work experience in their area of specialization, after graduation.
• Have computer skills
• Have good communication and writing skills
• Be fluent in English
• Be creative, flexible and with a pro-active attitude
• Be in good mental and physical health

Duties and Responsibilities of the Intern

Interns will:

• Complete tasks assigned by their supervisors – (An employee under whom an intern is placed for purposes of allocating work to them and overseeing their work performance) /mentors – (A competent person who imparts appropriate knowledge, attitudes and practical training to the trainee or mentee).
• Document the skills acquired during the internship.
• Participate in mentorship activities and additional program responsibilities.
• Adhere to quarterly monitoring and evaluation – (Mechanisms put in place to ensure adherence to quality, standards, cost effectiveness and relevance of an internship programme) requirement in the internship program
• Be ready to be deployed to any relevant office or work station within the institutions implementing the HoAGW4R project where there may be an internship vacancy
• Abide to the rules and regulations of the public institution
• Make effort to acquire relevant skills in the area of specialization
• Observe confidentiality of information and security of tools and or equipment that are placed in the possession of the intern in the course of the internship programme
• Ensure clearance by the relevant authority before leaving the internship station

Duration and Stipend

The internship period will last twelve months (12) non-renewable. The first cohort of 45 interns will start in the 3rd quarter of 2025 calendar year. The interns will receive a monthly stipend and field allowances as prescribed in the Internship Policy and Guidelines for The Public Service May 2016 and Guidelines on Management of the Public Service Internship Programme October, 2019. The issuance of certificates to the interns will be done upon successful completion of the internship programme.

An intern shall be liable to have his or her internship discontinued on the grounds of;

1. Absence from the workstation without permission or reasonable cause for a period exceeding two working days
2. Gross of disorderly conduct
3. Unsatisfactory performance
4. Failure to obey any lawful instructions or
5. Commission of a criminal offence

NB: Internship programme may be terminated by either an employer or the intern by submitting a one months’ notice in writing to the head of public institution to which the intern is deployed