Final Thoughts

I entered this summer internship hoping to expand upon my experience in the field as a Peace Corps volunteer and in the classroom as a graduate student in order to gain a better understanding of the following:

* Efforts to combat Gender Based Violence (GBV) globally, and more specifically in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – coined as one of the worst places in the world to be a woman
* Refugee situations and humanitarian response to crises in Africa
* The Department of State, and more specifically their efforts to support refugees, respond to humanitarian disasters, combat GBV, and their role in foreign policy
* The intersection between field work and policy work

Thanks to my excellent coworkers at the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), I was put to work on projects, sent to meetings, and reviewed proposals that stretched my thinking and expanded my knowledge, one of the main goals for the internship. My primary accomplishments for the summer include:

* Creating a factsheet of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration’s efforts to prevent and respond to GBV in the DRC in preparation for Secretary Clinton’s trip to Africa and for general use.
* Reviewing 50 proposals to determine the allocation of nearly $8M in funding for programs to combat Gender Based Violence (GBV) in refugee settings globally.
* Reviewing over 20 proposals to allocate over $14M in funding for refugee assistance programs in the Great Lakes region of Africa (DRC, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia).
* Composing a matrix of standard objectives and indicators for projects combating GBV to be used as guidelines for future PRM-funded NGO projects.
* Briefing individuals on the refugee situation in the Great Lakes region.
* Collaborating with my friend and classmate Rachel to report on the refugee situation in Dadaab (Kenya) - the world’s largest refugee site.

In addition, I learned more than I thought possible about the State Department, the US government, refugee assistance, humanitarian response, and foreign aid by reading and reviewing reports and articles, as well as attending interagency meetings, briefings, Senate Hearings, seminars, and panels. Highlights included:

* Attending Ending the Atrocity to learn more about the UN’s actions to end sexual violence during and after war through the Stop Rape Now: UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict campaign (UN Action). One of the panelists, Ambassador Melanne Verveer, United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues outlined USG efforts to combat SGBV, including mainstreaming women’s issues into foreign policy to protect and empower women, as well as developing a multisectoral approach to the issue.
* Learning about what is being done to prevent and respond to GBV, and the greatest hurdles to stopping GBV; as well as the different challenges to combating GBV in refugee populations globally
* Learning about refugee assistance, including the difference between IDPs and refugees and their rights and international responsibility; the three durable solutions for long-term solutions for refugees: repatriation, resettlement, local integration; protracted refugees situations, refugee camps, and efforts to create alternative settlement solutions.
* Attending World Refugee Day with Angelina Jolie (UHCR Goodwill Ambassador), UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, Ann Curry, and Rose Mapendo
* Learning more about the humanitarian crises in Africa, including the Great Lakes, Horn, and Sudan/Chad
* Watching Secretary Clinton’s efforts to shape the future of the Department of State and USAID through Ted@State talks and the unveiling of the QDDR
* Attending swearing-in ceremonies, press briefings, and tours at the State Department.
* Visiting the White House, Capitol, Library of Congress, and the Supreme Court
* Learning about efforts to improve foreign aid by attending:
- A panel discussion co-sponsored by Foreign Policy and Oxfam America: How Can We Improve Aid to Developing countries? Fresh Perspectives on U.S. Foreign Policy: Developing World Voices Discuss Smart Development through Ownership
- The Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing titled "The Case for Reform: Foreign Aid and Development in a New Era” to address foreign aid reform, the Administration’s new development agenda and pending legislation to initiate the foreign aid reform process.
- USAID’s final session of their 2009 Summer Seminar series: Integrating Gender in Agricultural Programs.

And one of the greatest highlights of the summer: attending Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court Nomination Hearing. What a remarkable piece of history to witness.

I would like to take one last opportunity to thank all my wonderful coworkers at PRM for making my summer internship an amazing experience. A big thanks as well to the Women and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Nancy Germeshausen Klavans Cultural Bridge Fellowship for not only their generous support, but also creating the online blogging experience which provided me with a new opportunity to document and reflect upon this summer’s experience.