Internship dates and duration
To be eligible for an internship with OHCHR, you have to apply through the UN Careers website. When completing your application, kindly indicate a time period in the current year when you are available to start your internship.
If you would like to be eligible to start your internship in 2017, please apply between October 2016 and 30 September 2017.
Purpose of the internship programme
Internships for graduate students are available at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). These internships are intended to:
- increase the intern’s understanding of current human rights issues at the international level and give them an insight into the work of the United Nations and OHCHR in particular; and
- provide OHCHR and the United Nations Human Rights mechanisms with the assistance and contribution of outstanding young students or graduates.
The relationship between the Organization and the intern is one of mutual benefit. Interns are assigned to an organizational unit of OHCHR according to the needs of the Office and their own areas of interest.
They are involved, inter alia, in researching human rights issues, drafting analytical papers and reports, providing substantive and technical servicing of meetings, backstopping fact-finding and technical cooperation activities as well as field operations and supporting other OHCHR activities, depending on the exigencies of the Office.
As part of the internship programme, OHCHR endeavors to brief interns through a series of information sessions on human rights issues conducted by staff of the Office.
Qualifications required
Please keep in mind that even if you meet the qualifications described below, there is no guarantee of an internship. You will be contacted directly by the Hiring Manager if you are selected.
Applicants to the United Nations internship programme must at the time of application meet one of the following requirements:
- Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);
- Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor’s level or equivalent);
- Have graduated with a university degree (as defined in 3.1 (a) and (b) above) and, if selected, must commence the internship within a one-year period of graduation, as provided for in section 11.4 of the present instruction.
