INTERN - HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS

Internship

Overview

Support humanitarian affairs through outreach, advocacy, and collaboration.

You have:

• Be a student in the final year of a first university degree (bachelor or equivalent), or have completed a first university degree (bachelor or equivalent) not more than one year before start-date of the internship.
• Excellent knowledge of standard software applications, especially MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel and MS Teams.
• Fluency in spoken and written English is required for all internship positions.
• A demonstrated keen interest in humanitarian issues and in the work of the United Nations is desirable.
• A demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs is desirable.

Contract

This is a I-1 contract. It usually requires 0 years of experience, depending on education. More about I-1 contracts.

Work Location

This internship is based in Washington D.C on a full-time or part-time basis. For all positions, the preferred internship modality is in person. Remote or hybrid (partly in-person and partly remote) modalities may be discussed and mutually agreed upon by the managers and the selected candidate(s).

Expected duration

December 2025 - May 2026

Duties and Responsibilities

The intern, under the general guidance of the Section Chief and Humanitarian Affairs Officers, perform a variety of tasks, depending on the internship period, including but not limited to: • Support OCHA’s Liaison Office in outreach, liaison and partnership-building with a particular focus on U.S.-based stakeholders engaged in the humanitarian sector; • Support advocacy efforts to mobilize resources including for UN-wide Humanitarian Response. • Establish and maintain contact database and email listservs with government officials, other UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, diplomatic missions, media, etc.; ensure appropriate mechanisms to facilitate collaboration and exchange of information both in and outside the UN system; • Support organization and participation in work groups, meetings, conferences, consultations with other agencies and partners humanitarian and emergency relief-related matters • Assist in drafting and preparing background documents, reports, issue briefs, talking points, presentations etc. on humanitarian issues; • Research, analyze and present information gathered from diverse sources on assigned topics/issues related to humanitarian and other relevant policy and legislative issues; • Maintain awareness of current humanitarian affairs and related issues, to include relevant political, policy, gender considerations or other developments in specific subject area, country or region concerned; • Respond to a variety of inquiries and information requests internally and externally and prepares related correspondence; • Performs other duties as required.

Qualifications/special skills

Be a student in the final year of a first university degree (bachelor or equivalent), a Master's or a Ph.D. Programme or equivalent, or have completed a first university degree (bachelor or equivalent), Master's or Ph.D. Programme (with completion date not more than one year before the start-date of the internship). Please note that proof of this will have to be attached to the application and that an official certificate will have to be provided at a later stage. Applicants to the UN Internship Programme are not required to have professional work experience. However, a field of study that is closely related to the type of internship that you are applying for is required. All applicants must be students in the final year of a first university degree (bachelor or equivalent), a Master's or a Ph.D. Programme or equivalent, or have completed a first university degree (bachelor or equivalent), Master's or Ph.D. Programme (with completion date not more than one year before the start-date of the internship). Do you meet any of the above criteria? Please indicate which one, and attach proof to the application. Please note an official certificate will be required at a later stage. Excellent knowledge of standard software applications, especially MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel and MS Teams is required. A demonstrated keen interest in humanitarian issues and in the work of the United Nations and a personal commitment to the ideals of the Charter are desirable. A demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which include willingness to try and understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views, is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the official working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position, fluency in spoken and written English is required for all internship positions. Fluency or knowledge of other UN official languages is an advantage.

Additional Information

The planned start date is 1 December 2025 but is flexible. The minimum internship period is 2 months full time, the maximum period is 6 months. A part-time set-up may be considered as long as it fulfills the needs of the office and equates to the full-time minimum and maximum periods (for example, a 50% part-time internship of 4 months equates to the minimum period of 2 months fulltime).

Intern Specific text

Interns are not financially remunerated by the United Nations. Costs and arrangements for travel, visas, accommodation and living expenses are the responsibility of interns or their sponsoring institutions. Interns who are not citizens or permanent residents of the country where the internship is undertaken, may be required to obtain the appropriate visa and work/employment authorization. Successful candidates should discuss their specific visa requirements before accepting the internship offer.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

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Potential interview questions

Added 8 months ago - Updated 8 months ago - Source: careers.un.org