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22 June 2022


WESTMINSTER STUDENTS INTERN AT THE UN MIGRATION AGENCY

The first cohort of Westminster students are completing internships with the
United Nations Migration Agency, known as the International Organization for
Migration (IOM), thanks to an institutional agreement between the University and
IOM which the two institutions signed earlier this year.

Politics and International Relations student Victoria outside her office at IOM
Headquarters in Geneva

As part of the agreement, Westminster students can apply for exclusive
internship opportunities at IOM offices around the world. Westminster’s IOM
interns receive funding in support of their internships from the University
donor funds dedicated to outward mobility opportunities, the Turing Scheme, and
the Employability Innovation Awards.

Westminster students Victoria Ramirez and Anisa Rashid were among the first
cohort of Westminster IOM interns successfully accepted into internship
positions in Geneva and Vienna. Victoria Ramirez, a Level 5 Politics and
International Relations BA student, got accepted to a four-month-long internship
in the Migrant Protection and Assistance Division at the IOM Headquarters in
Geneva.

Victoria has been given the opportunity not only to be part of numerous
interesting and impactful projects, but also has had the chance to meet many
people from different countries with interesting and new perspectives. She said:
“The experience of becoming an intern with IOM in Geneva has been nothing short
of fascinating. I have been able to participate in a myriad of projects that
have made me feel fully involved, giving me an amazing opportunity to learn the
inner workings of a United Nations agency that I aspire to work for in the
future. I have also had the chance to work with brilliant people at IOM who have
made sure that I feel integrated by involving me in different meetings and
projects so that I may make the most out of my internship here.”

Through her work, Victoria focuses on many compelling issues such as assisting
vulnerable migrants (AVM) or with assisted voluntary return and reintegration
(AVRR) of migrants which constitute some of the main projects at IOM. She has
been inspired by the work being done at IOM and feels happy to be part of a
bigger change by helping vulnerable people across the world, even if my work is
a small contribution towards this noble cause.


IOM Headquarters, Geneva

 

Victoria has also been able to travel around as Geneva is well-connected with
close proximity to many interesting countries and cities, making day trips very
easy to plan. “This has been a good opportunity to get to know Switzerland
better, a country that I had not had the chance to visit before this internship.
I am now halfway through my internship which has gone by incredibly fast, and I
am incredibly excited for what is yet to come,” she added.

Another Westminster student who secured an internship through the agreement
between the United Nations Migration Agency and the University of Westminster is
Anisa Rashid who is a Level 6 International Relations and Development BA
student. Anisa has been offered a nine-month-long internship in the Migration
Health Division at the IOM Regional Office in Vienna.

During her “eye-opening” internship, Anisa has been working with South Eastern
and Central Asian countries. Initially, getting to know her colleagues was
achieved through a daily rotation of meetings with different staff members
working in the same regional office, as well as virtual coffees to network. She
has been providing input on various key issues impacting South Eastern and
Central Asian countries, as well as preparing speeches and talking points for
use at health conferences and presentations. She said: “Experiencing conference
calls with people working in the other regional offices is always exciting for
me because it allows me to stay up to date on IOM matters in this region, with
weekly meetings about Ukraine and monthly meetings about the situation in
Afghanistan, and I am continuing to learn more about migration problems in
countries that I did not know about before, and it is a real eye-opener into the
kind of work the organisation engages in.”


Anisa Rashid (far left) and Victoria Ramirez (far right) met with IOM’s Director
of Human Resources, Mr Michael Emery, during his visit to the University in
March 2022

 

The organisation has been extraordinarily busy since the start of the Ukraine
war, and Anisa often experiences days with back-to-back meetings with other
regional offices to monitor progress on ongoing programmes, such as migratory
health care for Ukrainians in neighbouring countries like Moldova.

Anisa said: “The early stages of becoming familiar with professionals who have
been working in this sector for years appear overwhelming at first, but it
quickly becomes clear that it is not at all scary, the work is manageable, and
you learn as you go along. There is a lot of information to take in but having
already built a strong rapport with my team, everything is going smoothly, and
I’m looking forward to visiting my colleagues in the regional office in Austria
soon.”


IOM Ukraine emergency response meeting that Westminster International Relations
and Development student Anisa Rashid regularly takes part in

 

For more information about IOM internships through the University of
Westminster, contact Dr Sahar Taghdisi Rad, Course Leader for the International
Relations and Development BA Honours course.

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