Erica Kiduko self-secured an internship with the Global Peace Foundation to connect and enhance the research in her thesis with a hands-on summer internship.
Erica Kiduko G’25, who grew up in Tanzania, decided to use her 2023-24 Mark and Pearle Clements Internship Award to help further her research and promote education around gender-based violence through a nonprofit in the country.
Kiduko, who is pursuing a master’s degree in Pan-African studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, was doing her thesis research on the status of women in Tanzania and a National Plan of Action to help prevent violence against women when she decided to expand her work through a Clements Internship.
“I was working on a project that is my passion, and I applied for an internship that captured my goals and my passions,” Kiduko says.
The Mark and Pearle Clements Internship Awards are now open for juniors, seniors and graduate students of any major who seek to further their career development through undertaking self-obtained unique internship opportunities. The award provides students with financial assistance to help in the pursuit of their unique professional goals.
The award typically provides students with $1,500-$6,000 to assist with internship-related travel, accommodations, required materials or living expenses.
Erica Kiduko
Kiduko was working on a thesis titled “Reckoning an Icon: Exploring Scholarship and Activism of [Kenyan professor] Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo,” where she explored the ongoing imbalance women in Tanzania face and why, despite the implementation of the National Plan of Action, many women were still experiencing physical violence.
The action plan focuses on protecting the rights of women and girls, preventing such violent acts from occurring in the future and providing relief to help violence victims recover, but Kiduko says many of the citizens are unaware of the plan and many of the laws in place to protect these girls and women aren’t strict enough.
Wanting to connect and enhance the research in her thesis with a hands-on summer internship, Kiduko turned to the Clements Internship Award to study the effectiveness of the National Plan of Action through a self-secured internship with the Global Peace Foundation, which was one of the organizations involved in launching the National Plan of Action.
As a program officer, Kiduko worked on the Global Peace Foundation’s Uniting to End Violence Against Women in Football [soccer] initiative, which focused on both resolving issues of gender-based violence in women’s soccer and changing the societal norms and behaviors that often prevent victims of violence from reporting these incidents. Kiduko worked with soccer players ages 16 to 25.
“The initiative was trying to promote women’s empowerment by preventing gender-based violence while creating a safe environment for everyone to play their sport,” Kiduko says.
Kiduko helped run workshops where she and her fellow program officers would provide consultations to determine how much they understood about the prevalence and risks of violence while also equipping them with the knowledge of how to proceed should they witness an attack. One of the culminating projects was the release of an app where the players could anonymously report incidents of violence, whether they were the victims or the witnesses to an attack.
Erica Kiduko (back row, third from the left) turned to the Clements Internship Award to study the effectiveness of Tanzania’s National Plan of Action to help prevent violence against women through a self-secured internship with the Global Peace Foundation.
“It can be really hard for these players to report these incidents. Soccer could be their entire life and they’re afraid of being taken off the team for reporting an attack,” Kiduko says.
How will Kiduko apply the critical lessons learned through her internship and apply them to her work once she graduates from Syracuse University?
“Once I graduate, I still plan on exploring this community-driven approach to solving the important issue of gender violence. Now, I can conceptualize the different types of activism, from political and humanitarian activism, and I’m so grateful to have received the Clements Internship Award,” Kiduko says.
This year’s application process closes on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. In addition to being responsible for self-securing internships, students interested in applying are also required to include their internship proposal, including outlining the purpose and goals of the internship and how this relates to their educational and career objectives. Interested students also need to secure a faculty or staff sponsor letter by the application deadline. Visit the Syracuse University Career Services Clements Internship Awards webpage for complete details.
