Background 

The Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation is an international, survivor-centred, rights-based organisation working to change the response to conflict-related sexual violence. We support survivors’ demands for a world where sexual violence as a weapon of war is no longer tolerated, and bears consequences for individual perpetrators and states. We work for a future where survivors receive the holistic care and compensation, they need to rebuild their lives. We create opportunities for survivors to speak out and be heard, and where they can organise to create change, influence policies, and demand justice and accountability. We are working towards a future where sexual violence in conflict is no longer seen as inevitable but is recognised for what it is: a crime that should have serious consequences for both the perpetrators as well as states that tolerate or condone it. We want the international community to draw a red line against wartime sexual violence and strengthen accountability for states and perpetrators. See also www.mukwegefoundation.org.    

Holistic Care 

The Holistic Care programme at Mukwege Foundation aims to see all survivors of conflict-related sexual violence have access to quality holistic care, inspired by the Panzi One-Stop Centre model and philosophy of holistic care.  

Our programme has three key areas of work. We ensure survivors have access to care, we build capacities of professionals and non-specialists, and we advocate for quality, compassionate and survivor-centred holistic care as a standard and a right.  

Our programme spans Burundi, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, and Ukraine where we ensure survivors’ access to quality holistic care. We also conduct advocacy and support capacity-building, including knowledge exchange with experts from Panzi Hospital and Foundation, in contexts like Colombia, Iraq and Syria.  

Country Programmes 

In 2020, our organisation made an important strategic decision to establish country programmes, with teams present in each country, to ensure quality holistic care, in close proximity with survivors, together with local actors. We are currently present in Central African Republic (2021), Ukraine (2022) and in Burundi (2025).  

Description of internship 

The intern will work on the following, in support of MF’s Holistic Care programme and Country Programmes in Central African Republic, Ukraine and Burundi. 

Holistic Care: 

• Updating the holistic care resources and materials archive. 

• Conducting a literature review on survivor-centred holistic care in response to conflict-related sexual violence, in support of MF’s research agenda and advocacy strategy in development. 

• Conducting services and actor mapping in 3 – 5 MF-implementation contexts, where MF is not yet present, but supports survivor networks or other implementation partners. 

• Finalising the development and production of MF knowledge tools and materials including a training handbook, training materials, a consultations report and awareness-raising and communication materials. 

• Supporting the compilation of updated information from Panzi Hospital and Panzi Foundation on the Panzi model, specific best-practices and clinical interventions. 

• Collecting and organising an archive of communication resources, from in-country teams and implementation partners. 

• Supporting the organisation of the launch of MF’s online digital course and dissemination campaign. 

• Supporting the participatory review of applicants to the 2nd and 3rd open calls for the MF Roster of Specialists and Trainers. 

• Supporting the organisation of 2 Training of Trainers for MF and Panzi personnel. 

Country Programmes: 

• Developing and finalising contacts lists for each country programme. 

• Aligning and populating each country programme’s Sharepoint, according to a validated standard structure. 

• Supporting each country programme’s annual reporting and planning process. 

• Supporting the development of visitors or new arrivals’ briefs for each country programme. 

• Supporting the design and translation of visual materials on safeguarding and accountability, for each country programme. 

• Ensuring the availability of completed inventory lists per country programme. 

• Ensuring the availability of internal procedures manuals and templates in French and Ukrainian. 

• Compiling a standard country-programme toolkit of existing resources, guidelines and templates. 

The intern will be asked to provide other general support to the Director of Care and Country Programmes. This may include support to planning in-country visits, drafting of articles and supporting logistics for different activities. 

Profile requirements 

The intern should be: 

• Passionate about the work of the Mukwege Foundation and its vision for changing the global response to conflict-related sexual violence. 

• Ideally knowledgeable about gender-based violence, case-management for survivors of GBV, best practices for the provision of multisectoral assistance to survivors.  

• Currently enrolled in a Bachelors or Masters programme or have recently completed a degree programme on Public Health, Gender, Development Studies, Psychology, Law, Business Management, International Relations, or another related field. 

• Be physically present in the office in The Hague 2 days a week. 

• Fluent in English and have professional or working level fluency in French ideally.  

• A skilled writer and researcher, able to compile large amounts of information in a concise and practical manner. 

• A skilled communicator, ready to firstly actively listen to colleagues and partners and able to communicate with diplomacy and humility. 

• Willing to support team efforts. 

• Willing and able to support a variety of tasks as part of their internship, in support of advancing the Care and Country programmes at MF. 

Conditions of the internship/volunteer opportunity  

The internship/volunteering will be conducted under the following terms and conditions:    

• The candidate undertakes this role on a volunteer basis or as an intern   

• A small monthly allowance can be offered, based on Dutch law   

• The candidate must be based in the Netherlands with occasional commute to the Foundation’s office in The Hague    

• The candidate shall adhere to the code of conduct of the Mukwege Foundation    

• The candidate shall sign and adhere to a non-disclosure agreement.   

How to apply  

Please send your cover letter and CV, in English, no later than 8 October 2025 to Ms. Lucy Shanahan, Office Manager, at vacancies@mukwegefoundation.org.  

We will interview candidates on a rolling basis and may close the vacancy earlier if the right candidate is identified before the stated deadline. As such, we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.  

Please note that the Mukwege Foundation complies with the GDPR policy on personal data security. If you are not selected for this role, we will delete all applicant data from our records within three months of the vacancy deadline.