International Development related Traineeship at Oxfam Italia

Oxfam Italia is an independent NGO established in Italy at the beginning of the 1970s. Organisation was born out of the experience of UCODEP, an Italian NGO committed to fight against poverty and injustice in the world. Being an influential and visible actor in the field for more than 30 years, organisation was invited to join the Oxfam Confederation of 19 organisations working together with partners and local communities in more than 90 countries worldwide. Since then, Oxfam Italia has increased its role as an international actor seeking to mobilize the power of people fighting against poverty and injustice in the world. The scope of their work includes variety of different fields and themes starting with education, campaigns and advocacy projects aimed to support SDGs agenda within the Union but, as well, many programmes related to humanitarian and development work in the so-called Global South.

Currently, a big part of their work is focused on the management of recent refugee crisis and support to the newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers. Oxfam Italia works to provide support in many different areas, starting with legal support, providing basic services necessary for successful integration, language classes and facilitation of various formal/non-formal educational activities to ensure social cohesion among host and migrant communities (mainly through Global Citizenship and Intercultural Education.

For me, a recent graduate of Development Studies programme, it was an exceptional opportunity to finally get a chance to try myself in a well-established development NGO. While working for Oxfam Italia, I was exposed to many different areas of their work, even working alongside experts and practitioners from other Oxfam affiliates, such as Oxfam Novib. Oficially, I was based in Education Office which mainly works with Global Citizenship Education projects, however, many of my assignemnts included support to other offices of the organisation, being Humanitarian Aid Office as well as Partnerships and Programmes Office.

Anyone interested to pursue their careers in either humanitarian or development work focused fields, I would highly recommend looking for an internship opportunities within the Oxfam confederation.