New checklist to use with the European Youth Forum’s Employers’ Guide to Quality Internships
The recent media uproar over David Hyde, a United Nations intern who had been living in a tent in Geneva, has put the working conditions that young professionals go through to advance their careers under the spotlight.
Just last week current and former United Nations interns protested outside of the organization’s Secretariat building in New York. Indeed, besides the discomfort of those who can even afford to hold an unpaid internship, the lack of fair remuneration excludes those who cannot afford to work for free. This further skews the professional world toward wealthy people in wealthy countries.
However, fair remuneration is not the only characteristic of quality internships. Indeed in its Employers’ Guide to Quality internships the European Youth Forum (YFJ) also underlines that internships should primarily be an educational experience and that for this experience to be safe and fair, interns need to be informed of their rights.
This guide provides employers with detailed and illustrated guidelines on how to set up quality internships. To help employers keep up with the development of their quality internship program Project 668 and B!NGO have teamed up to create a practical checklist. You can find this checklist here and use it together with YFJ’s guide.
by Anani Gomes