Kids Empowerment: January 2019 – April 2019

Completed in the Spring semester of my term abroad in Paris, my internship at Kids Empowerment, a non-profit focused on the rights of migrant children in Europe, built on my interest in humanitarian work. Though the organization focuses on both hands-on and legal work, with hands-on work carried out particularly in Paris and Strasbourg, my work mainly focused on the documentation of the organization’s work as well as review and editing for documents focused on the conduct of various European countries.

Overseen by board member and founder, Caroline Newman, an associate justice at the French National Asylum court and former legal representative on behalf of the French Red Cross, my position gave me a new and unique insight into the situations of migrant children in the European Union. Though the internship was mostly conducted in English, apart from various translations I completed, Caroline’s position in the French judicial system as well as her former legal and governmental positions  in various countries, gave me the opportunity to both learn about the realities of migrant law as well as the transnational nature of the application of change during a time in which Europe was in crisis due to the massive influx of migrants, unaccompanied minors or otherwise. That said, my growing cultural knowledge of France was combined with a greater understanding of the legal system, both in the country as well as in the European Union, and how cultural complexities combined with the varied results around the arrival and assimilation of unaccompanied minors in France, on a smaller scale, and Europe, on a larger scale.

My first project was to write the 2018 yearly report for the organization, and thus acquaint myself with all projects–past and future–of employees and interns of Kids Empowerment. Apart from media campaigns to raise awareness of the issues faced by migrant children, I outlined the prospects of guardianship training, an online application to be used to aid migrant children navigating the legal system, and workshops with children at the Temporary Shelter La Caserne in Paris. Furthermore, I edited and did extensive work on the country report for migrant children in Slovakia, preparing the document for publishing in order to increase a database of country reports that describe the legal frameworks affecting migrant children in reception countries, identify successful and constructive practices, and highlight practices that are in need of improvement.

Though I mostly worked with Caroline and two other interns, as much of the organization is based out of Strasbourg rather than Paris, I was able to work collaboratively with both the aforementioned persons as well as communicate with various members of the organization in order to compile the information needed to complete my own work. Overall, the experience was an enlightening look at the work of NGO’s, a basis for learning about particular and specific information faced by unaccompanied minors (such as FGM and trafficking), and a point in contrast for learning about the legal side of humanitarian work versus the hands-on action that precedes it.

At the office in the 8th arrondissement with Caroline Newman