Humanitarian Affairs – Intern

Position description

This internship is based in New York and may be undertaken on a full-time or part-time basis, and the preferred modality is in-person. However, remote or hybrid arrangements (partly in-person, partly remote) may be discussed and mutually agreed upon by the managers and the selected candidate(s).

Expected duration
6 months from early January.

Duties and Responsibilities
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is the part of the UN Secretariat responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies. OCHA’s mission is to mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors in order to:

• Alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies;
• Advocate the rights of people in need;
• Promote preparedness and prevention;
• Facilitate sustainable solutions.

The Strategic Prioritization & Practices Branch (SPPB) helps OCHA and partners deliver more effective joint responses using innovative, state of the art coordination tools and services. The work of the Branch focuses on the key activities which enable effective coordination: needs assessment and analysis, humanitarian response planning and continuous monitoring.

SPPB aims to ensure OCHA and partner staff have the skills, tools and technical support needed to meet the needs of people affected by crises through a well-coordinated collective response effort, within the framework of a rigorous Humanitarian Programme Cycle (HPC).

The intern will be located in the Humanitarian Development Collaboration Team in NY which is part of the Approaches and Practices Section (APS) within SPPB.

The principal focus of the Humanitarian Development Collaboration Team is to advance humanitarian-development and peacebuilding collaboration with the overall aim to strengthen development action in fragile settings to reduce drivers of need, risk and vulnerability. The team is closely collaborating with the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, the Development Coordination Office, the OECD-DAC, UNDP and works on IFI relationships, is responsible as a Secretariat for the Joint Steering Committee and advises our country teams on operational HDP collaboration among other tasks.

Daily responsibilities will depend on the individual’s background and duties may include but are not limited to:

• Providing assistance with the design and preparation of studies on humanitarian response, emergency relief and other related issues and in various follow-up activities;
• Researching, analyzing and presenting information gathered from diverse sources on assigned topics/issues;
• Assisting with the preparation of various written documents, e.g. drafts sections of studies, background papers, policy guidelines, parliamentary documents etc.;
• Assisting in the maintenance of reference/resource information on specific topics or policy related issues;
• Providing support with the organization of meetings, seminars, conferences, workshops, etc., and serving as note-taker to such events;
• Maintaining awareness of current humanitarian affairs and related issues, to include relevant political, policy, gender considerations or other developments in specific subject area and/or country or region concerned;
• Performing other tasks requested by supervisor, as appropriate.

In addition to the general responsibilities outlined above, and under the general guidance of a primary supervisor, the intern shall be given specific tasks related to one of these projects within the Approaches and Practices Section (APS):

The intern will support the team in mainly four ways:

• Development funding trends: The intern will support the team in researching and updating development funding trends and produce synthesis updates on latest developments.
• HDP Country snapshots: The intern will support the team in developing country updates on HDP collaboration. This will include liaising with colleagues in country offices, gathering info and synthesizing and consolidating information into country snapshot documents that identify context, achievements, challenges and opportunities on HDP collaboration at country level.
• Support on Meetings: The intern will participate in and (when relevant) support in the preparation of many of the meetings we convene with development and peacebuilding actors at the Secretariat, including NGOs, Think Tanks, Member States and donors and provide read out of those meetings.
• Support on other tasks as assigned and related to OCHA’s work on strengthening humanitarian and development collaboration.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet one of the following requirements:

• Be enrolled in, or have completed, a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);
• Be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s level or equivalent), preferably in areas related to political science, social science, humanitarian affairs, international studies, public administration, economics, engineering, earth sciences or in a related field.

Applicants must be a student in the final year of the first university degree (bachelor or equivalent), Master’s or Ph.D. Programme or equivalent, or have completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD Programme. Do you meet any of the above criteria? If yes, please indicate which one. Please note that you will have to provide an official certificate or proof of university enrollment at a later stage, if selected.

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. Your training, education, advance course work or skills should benefit the United Nations during your internship.

• Excellent writing and communication skills are required.
• Skills in information management, coordination, administration, translation are desirable.

Languages
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Fluency in spoken and written English is required for the internship. Knowledge of an additional official UN language is an advantage.

Additional Information
Not available.

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.

Application instructions

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