Partnership and Coordination Service Intern

Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)H (no hardship)

Family Type (not applicable for home-based)

Family

Staff Member / Affiliate TypeInternship

Target Start Date2024-01-15

Job Posting End DateDecember 17, 2023

Terms of ReferenceOrganizational context

UNHCR’s Partnership and Coordination Service (PCS) is part of the Division of External Relations. The Service is responsible for ensuring UNHCR approaches partnerships in a strategic and dynamic manner. The Service provides support to regional and country offices on relationships with UN agencies, NGOs, advocacy partners, sports organizations, and endeavors to ensure UNHCR exercises effective leadership in areas falling under its responsibility as well as coordination responsibilities in line with its Mandate and agreed frameworks. Located in the UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva, PCS comprises three sections: the Inter-Agency and Coordination Section (IACS), the NGO and Civil Society Section, and the Sport Coordination Section.

The internships are a unique opportunity to work with one of the leading UN humanitarian organizations in a team tasked with coordinating multilateral operational policy issues with a specific focus on inter-agency policy and coordination.

During the internship period, the interns will work in a multicultural environment, and acquire knowledge on humanitarian issues, cross-cutting operational processes – particularly on refugee/displacement responses. In addition to exposure gained through the internships, the candidates can take advantage of an array of learning and professional development material and expand understanding on issues of forced displacement, refugee protection, solutions and delivery of assistance.
UNHCR has a lively intern peer network which facilitates interaction and exchange on daily work issues and life in Geneva, including on accommodation, transport, etc.

The position

We are looking for team-spirited and dynamic creative thinkers, interested in research who are data proficient and can organize and present macro level information in interesting and user-friendly visuals and formats. Specific terms of reference are given below.

The tasks include but are not limited to:

1. Collating comments and feedback on assigned documents received from internal and external stakeholders;
2. Undertaking primary analysis and research, and collating available information on a range of topics;
3. Supporting the follow up of the Global Refugee Forum (e.g. stakeholder engagement and progress monitoring);
4. Supporting the use of CRM tools such as Salesforce to manage data and information;
5. Assisting support provided to regional bureaus and field operations related to partnership coordination;
6. Assisting in the preparation and coordination of UNHCR meetings (e.g. preparing presentations and briefing notes);
7. Attending briefings and meetings and taking notes as requested;
8. Monitoring media and supporting knowledge sharing within the organization;
9. Undertaking other tasks as required.
Essential minimum qualifications and professional experience required
In order to be considered for an internship, candidates must meet the following eligibility criteria:
• Recent graduate (those persons who completed their studies within two years of graduating or current student in a graduate/undergraduate school programme from a university or higher education facility accredited by UNESCO; and
• Have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies in a field relevant or of interest to the work of the Organization.
Please note that candidates who have immediate relatives (father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister) working as staff members of UNHCR are not eligible.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Political Science, International Affairs, International Development, Communications or other relevant field;
• Demonstratable interest in refugee and forced displacement issues;
• Ability to work in English;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills;
• Strong organizational skills;
• Research, data analysis, data visualization and information management skills;
• Very good knowledge of Word, Excel, PowerPoint;
• Flexibility, teamwork skills, professional and personal integrity.

Desirable skills

• Knowledge of additional UN language : French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and/or Russian;
• Experience in managing social media accounts, producing content and analyzing trends;
• Knowledge of InDesign or other graphics design software;
• Knowledge of Microsoft Teams and Sharepoint;
• Experience in organizing events or conferences;
• Diplomacy;
• Discretion;
• Meticulous attention to detail;
• Effective time management.

What the intern will learn

• Understanding of the UN systems and processes;
• Overview of UNHCR’s coordination role in humanitarian work;
• Exposure to wide range of refugee issues and current thinking on the UN system, forced displacement and humanitarian issues;
• Internal processes and inter-divisional collaboration in a large humanitarian organisation;
• Working in a multicultural and multilingual team.
Location

The successful candidate will be based with the team in the Geneva, Switzerland.

Conditions

• The internship is full time (40 hours per week) Monday to Friday.
• The inter-agency intern will report to the Chief of Inter-Agency & Coordination Section and the sport coordination intern will report to the Senior Refugee Sport Coordinator

Allowance

Interns who do not receive financial support from an outside party will receive an allowance to partially help to cover the cost of food, local transportation and living expenses.

To apply

• Interested candidates should submit their application through www.unhcr.org/careers.html

The UNHCR workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages and opinions. UNHCR seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates without distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity. We welcome applications from candidates with a refugee or stateless background.
UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, travelling, processing or training.

Standard Job Description

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Desired Languages English

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Other informationThis position doesn't require a functional clearance