CAPI's International Internship Program

Program overview:

Recognizing both the tremendous work of our partner organizations in the Asia-Pacific, and the intrinsic value of experiential learning, the main goal of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives' International Internship Program is to support the next generation of Canadians in becoming more deeply engaged in the Asia-Pacific region and in international affairs.  The international field is expanding at a tremendous rate and requires not only academic credentials but also practical experience and the ability to collaborate with individuals and partners around the globe. 

In response to this, since 2003 CAPI has been pleased to offer a variety of opportunities to Canadian students and graduates with dynamic organizations in the Asia-Pacific region.  All of our partner organizations have an interdisciplinary as well as a regional focus, and they are all leaders and innovators in their fields.  Although the program is designed to offer interns valuable international work experience, we also recognize that research opportunities, network building, and language training are additional benefits derived through the program.  CAPI Interns also provide valuable support to our many partner organizations in their important work.

CAPI has been able to offer many of our placements through the generous support of the following funding agencies and programs:

• Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada's Young Professionals International (no longer available)
• Association of Universities and Colleges in Canada's Students for Development Program
• Canadian International Development Agency's International Youth Internship Program

We have also dedicated our own resources to the support of these placements, and have offered several CAPI-funded internships through the years.  We continue to offer the program with the constant and enthusiastic support of our CAPI and UVic communities, and our remarkable and inspirational partner organizations across the Asia-Pacific region. 

Some of CAPI's remarkable partner organizations and projects have included:

In Oceania:

• Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation, Cook Islands
• Micronesia Conservation Trust, Federated States of Micronesia
• Micronesia Challenge, Federated States of Micronesia and Palau
• Helen Reef Resource Management Project, Palau
• Micronesian Seminar, Federated States of Micronesia
• Conservation Society of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia

In Southeast Asia:

• Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era, Philippines
• Women and Gender Institute - Miriam College, Philippines
• Center for Migrant Advocacy, Philippines
• Migrant Forum in Asia, Philippines
• Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, Thailand
• Thai Youth Action Programs, Thailand
• Child Workers in Asia, Thailand
• Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, Thailand
• Centre for Marinelife Conservation and Community Development, Vietnam
• Participatory Management of Coastal Resources, Cambodia
• Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, Cambodia
• Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility, Malaysia
• Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women, Malaysia

In Central and Eastern Asia:

• Future Generations/China, China
• Women's Active Museum on War and Peace, Japan
• Asia-Japan Women's Resource Center, Japan
• National Center Against Violence, Mongolia
• Mongolian Gender Equality Center, Mongolia

What CAPI's Internship Program can do for you:

• Enhance your cross-cultural skills and help you to develop basic proficiency in a new language
• Support you in applying and adapting your academic knowledge and skills within a professional context and within a new culture and environment
• Mentor you in learning to multitask, communicate effectively, take initiative and organize work and priorities
• Allow you to gain a sense of the complexity and the challenges facing other countries and regions and learn to adapt strategies and solutions appropriately
• Expand your horizons and your sense of the possible
• Help you to establish concrete networks and develop personal and professional relationships in the region
• Assist you in clarifying, expanding and learning to articulate your ideas and aspirations
• Develop your sense of professional responsibility and confidence, as both an ambassador of Canada, and of CAPI
• Mentor you through your engagment in experiential learning and support the development of flexibility, creativity and openness to lifelong learning

If you would like to learn more, or become part of CAPI's growing team of interns and intern alumni, we would like to hear from you!

To find out more about what our current interns are doing in the field, or to read updates from past interns, please visit our Intern Blog.