SEC NL & SUFASEC Programme Intern

About Terre des Hommes 

Terre des Hommes Netherlands (TdH NL) protects children by preventing and stopping child exploitation, and by empowering children to make their voices count. Our work is grounded in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and seeks to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Purpose of the role
The Sexual Exploitation of Children (SEC) Programme is seeking an intern, who is registered as a postgraduate student, has good research, communication and report writing skills, and is passionate about children’s rights to support the new Dutch SEC NL programme and the SUFASEC (Step Up the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation of Children) programme implemented by the Down to Zero Alliance. Do you fit this profile? Are you excited to learn new skills and work in an exciting, innovative and dynamic programmes environment? If so, keep reading!

Position in the organisation
The SEC intern is part of the SEC thematic team and is managed by the SEC Manager. The intern is expected to support two specific programmes under the SEC Thematic Programme. The intern will be a part of the SEC team and will collaborate with staff from other TdH teams, including other colleagues from the impact department, e.g. staff working for the Research and Influencing and Programmes team, as well as colleagues working for the Engagement Department, e.g. the Programmes Communications Specialist. For the support to the Down to Zero Alliance the intern is also expected to liaise with the relevant Alliance members if necessary.

Introduction: Down to Zero Alliance and SUFASEC programme
The Down to Zero (DtZ) Alliance is a consortium of six organisations (Plan International Nederland, Defence for Children–ECPAT, Free a Girl, Child Rights Coalition Asia, Conexión) led by Terre des Hommes Netherlands. Together, they work with 30+ partners in 12 countries across Asia and Latin America to prevent and end the sexual exploitation of children through the MoFA-funded Step Up the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation of Children (SUFASEC) programme (March 2023–February 2026). SUFASEC focuses on:

empowering children, youth, and communities to challenge harmful norms,

improving protective environments for children, and

strengthening accountability of duty bearers.

It includes a dedicated lobby and advocacy component at regional, international, and EU levels.

Introduction: SEC NL Programme
The SEC NL Programme seeks to raise awareness and change the behaviours of children, parents, caregivers and professionals in the Netherlands and aims at systemic change, meaning to sustainably shift social norms, laws, policies, institutional practices, and power relations to prevent online sexual exploitation and protect children’s rights.

The SEC NL Programme focuses on children’s empowerment, safe families and communities, and strengthened laws, policies and multi-stakeholder mechanisms.

The work in the Netherlands centres around prevention, protection, participation, and system-level change and employs 7 strategies:

participatory child-centred research

education and empowerment

children, youth and community champions

localisation approaches

child-led advocacy

institutional strengthening

multistakeholder engagement

Result areas and core activities
The internship is both a learning and personal development experience for the intern, as well as knowledge-enhancing for the internship provider. The specific tasks and projects will be defined in agreement with the intern and will be based on interest, knowledge, experience and skills.

The intern’s general responsibilities are to:

Co-create a learning and mentorship plan tailored to suit your interests, needs, knowledge capacity and skills with clear goals to review progress during and at the end of the internship.

Participate in regular one-on-one learning and support sessions with the SEC Manager, mid-term and post-internship reflection meetings.

Maintain an internship diary and submit a reflections report at the end of the internship.

Complete online child safeguarding training and introductory online courses on children’s rights, gender and intersectionality.

Track hours and maintain a healthy internship-life balance.

Contribute to a respectful and inclusive workplace.

Tasks related to the Down to Zero Alliance may include:

Supporting the drafting of the final narrative donor report for the SUFASEC programme by consolidating inputs from ten country reports into coherent draft chapters for the Alliance-level final report.

Supporting the overall reporting process, including gathering missing information, coordinating photo selection and approval, coordinating review of the draft report by relevant colleagues and addressing comments and feedback.

Supporting final preparations and roll-out of the programme’s external closure online event/webinar.

Accompanying the SEC Manager and staff to stakeholder meetings when appropriate.

Participating actively in staff and SEC team meetings and taking minutes when needed.

Communicating internally with staff at country, regional and global levels when necessary.

Tasks related to the SEC NL Programme may include:

Supporting development, implementation and dissemination of research on child sexual exploitation.

Supporting communications (social media texts, website content, responses to newspaper articles, organising events).

Contributing to desk reviews on related topics.

Contributing to development and review of concept notes, guidelines and documents.

Supporting coordination of learning and knowledge-exchange meetings.

Assisting in mapping potential partners and stakeholders.

Assisting in identifying advocacy and knowledge-sharing opportunities.

If a thesis is mandatory in your studies, combining it with the internship can be discussed.

Knowledge and experience

Passion for children’s rights and interest in child protection, sexual exploitation of children, and gender rights.

Interest in diversity, inclusion and intersectionality is an added bonus.

Currently enrolled in a Bachelor, Masters or Doctoral degree in relevant fields.

Good report writing skills.

Written and spoken proficiency in English and preferably Dutch.

Analytical, critical thinking, coordination and organisational skills.

Desk research experience required; primary research desirable.

Strong interpersonal and communication skills.

Willingness to learn and collaborate.

Ability to meet deadlines and balance responsibilities.

Commitment to TdH’s core values and inclusivity.

What we offer

An internship where you can make a difference for children.

Enthusiastic and highly skilled colleagues.

A modern office in the centre of The Hague.

4–6 month internship contract.

Stipend: 400 EUR per month (36 hours/week).

Start date: 15 March 2026.

Application process
Please share your application before 27 February 2026 to [email protected]
. Include a short motivation letter and CV.

For more information contact: [email protected]