General information International Internship Course
| there remains the need to be able to understand and deal constructively with social problems in their concrete shape as they arise in specific times and places..(which).. cannot be met by a book of rules, a set of tried formulas or the construction of machinery on a standard pattern. It is primarily a matter of education, and of education in the classical sense of the development of the individual's latent capacities which will enable him to assume social responsibilities and to help work out in his own way the solutions to the social problems of his community" David Morse, Director-General of the ILO |
On behalf of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Institute for Labour Studies organizes an Annual Internship Course on Labour and Social Policies for the Promotion of Decent Work. The courses are intended for middle-level officials in ministries of labour and in employers' and workers' organizations who are expected to rise to positions of greater responsibility in the future. Approximately twenty fellowships are offered for each course and cover the travel and living expenses of participants. The three groups of the ILO Governing Body select the countries and organizations to be invited to nominate candidates. The final selection of participants is the responsibility of the Director of the International Institute for Labour Studies.
Objectives
The course serves both as an introduction to the ILO and as a forum in which participants examine the impact of current economic trends on social institutions and social policy. It is intended to enhance their capacity to contribute to active labour policy development in their own countries. To this end, it aims at stimulating a cross-national exchange of views and experience among potential policy-makers; providing an international perspective on national problems; and promoting the principles and practices of tripartism in the formulation of social policy.
Place and timing
In view of its purpose of introducing participants to the ILO, the course is held at the ILO Headquarters in Geneva during the three weeks preceding the annual International Labour Conference (ILC) held in June. Course participants attend the opening sessions of the ILC.
Qualifying criteria
The Director, assisted by a committee of senior staff, selects participants on the basis of individual qualifications and the necessity of establishing a balanced and professionally homogeneous group. The Internship Course is intended for men and women who:
- are currently exercising significantly broad responsibilities in the social policy field, and are likely to be called upon to assume higher levels of responsibility in the future;
- have an appropriate formal educational background or its equivalent in experience;
- formally undertake to exclusively follow the full internship course and not to carry out any other assignments during the course.