Gender, Protection and Disability Inclusion Internship

This eight‑month Internship – Gender, Protection and Disability Inclusion at World Food Programme, in Nairobi invites recent graduates in gender studies, sociology, social work or development to join WFP Kenya’s unit. You will map gender and inclusion data, design transformative interventions, draft proposals, and feed insights into the KECO repository while collaborating with field teams, government partners and UN agencies. Based in Nairobi, the role offers hands‑on experience, networking across the UN system and the chance to shape inclusive food‑security programmes. Open to Kenyan nationals eager to launch a humanitarian career.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP’s values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

The WFP Kenya Country Office (KCO) implements an Internship Programme designed to deepen understanding of the United Nations by providing practical, hands-on experience within the World Food Programme. The programme offers graduate students an opportunity to gain professional exposure in their respective fields of study and specialization, both within programme areas and across various offices in the country.

The Country Office is now seeking to select Interns for Cohort 3, 2026, for an eight-month programme with opportunities in both Field Offices and the Nairobi Office. For Field Office placements, priority will be given to candidates from the surrounding local communities to enhance impact.

Intern – Gender, Protection and Disability Inclusion, Nairobi

The internship within the Gender, Protection and Disability Inclusion Unit will significantly support in expanding dedicated human resource, enable more balance workload distribution, enhance consistency in technical support across workstreams and ultimately contribute to improved Gender Protection and Inclusion results and impact. Additionally, the GPI Unit offers a rich and structured learning environment for the incumbent, providing hands-on experience in the practical integration of GEWE, protection mainstreaming, and disability inclusion within food security and nutrition programming, using a gender-transformative approach across both programme and operations functions.

The intern will also benefit from extensive exposure and networking opportunities, engaging with a wide range of expertise internally within Kenya Country Office, corporately within WFP, across the UN system, and externally with national and county government counterparts, cooperating partners, and other key stakeholders. This will provide a well-rounded professional learning experience while supporting GPI integration across diverse interventions and partnerships.

Key Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Gender Programme Officer, the incumbent will perform the following duties:

• Support in identifying sources of information related to gender, protection and disability issues, synthesize best practices and lessons learned directly linked to gender and transformative programming, protection mainstreaming and disability inclusion goals and updating into the KECO information repository site.
• Support  in developing and implementing gender, protection and disability inclusion specific and integrated activities and monitoring processes through a gender transformative approach across the strategic outcomes.
• Contribute in providing inputs  in development of gender, protection and disability responsive proposals, concept notes and other programme documents.
• Support in responding to routine queries with readily available support by senior staff and escalate where appropriate to provide a timely and accurate response to inquiries.
• Participate in and represent the unit across Strategic Outcome activities, internal and external meetings to highlight fundamental gender equality and women empowerment related issues and advocate for integrating GEWE, protection mainstreaming and disability Inclusion into the development and humanitarian agenda/programmes.
• Support in ensuring that best practices, human interest stories and lessons learned  on gender, protection and Disability inclusion integration and promoting Gender Equality and women empowerment results, through a gender transformative approach are captured and recorded into the CO knowledge networks.
• Support with preparation and conducting field mission visits and capacity strengthening activities in support of WFP, Partner, Government and staff, including community members/resource persons, for effective implementation of gender transformative actions, protection mainstreaming and disability inclusion in food security and nutrition related programming.
• Support in planning and implementing relevant, high-impact gender, protection mainstreaming and disability inclusion advocacy campaigns in collaboration with WFP workstreams, the Government and other strategic partners, for enhanced  Gender Equality and women empowerment, protection and disability inclusion results in food security and nutrition programming.
• Assist in preparing gender, protection and disability transformative reports and ensuring deliverables adhere to WFP corporate standards and quality controls.
• Accompany WFP officials in gender, protection and disability inclusion related coordination meetings, workshops and any other planned activities involving WFP’s engagement.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Expected Outcomes:

• Internship goal and objectives within one month of onboarding.
• Internship report at the end of the internship program.
• Internship case study on gender integration, protection and disability inclusion across WFP programming by the end of the internship program.

Qualifications Required:

• Education: A recent graduate (within the last 6 months) with a Bachelors in Gender studies, Sociology and Social Work, Community development work, Programme Management in development or Humanitarian Settings  or an equivalent.
• Language: Fluency in Oral and written English.
• Computer literacy: Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel).

Duration of Internship: 8 months

WHY JOIN WFP?

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.
• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.
• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.
• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok.

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REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact:  global.inclusion@wfp.org

Applicants must be Kenyan nationals, recent graduates, and residents of Kenya. Candidates placed in field locations will be responsible for arranging their own accommodation near the respective duty stations. Proficiency in the local language is required for this role to ensure effective communication with stakeholders.