Protection 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 Date2025-06-02

Deadline for ApplicationsApril 2, 2025

Terms of ReferenceTerms of Reference
Internship
Caribbean Protection Unit

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is offering an Internship with the Caribbean Protection Unit under the Multi-Country Office Washington at UNHCR Washington D.C.
Established in December 1950, UNHCR is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for asylum seekers, refugees, returnees, internally displaced communities and stateless people. Every year, millions of men, women and children are forced to flee their homes to escape conflict and persecution. UNHCR currently operates in over 130 countries, using its long expertise to protect and care for millions.
Title: Protection Intern - Caribbean
Duty Station: Washington DC
Duration: 2.5 months between early May and end of August
Contract Type: Internship

Organizational context
UNHCR’s Multi-Country Office in Washington, D.C., is responsible for protecting asylum- seekers, refugees, and stateless persons across 18 Caribbean countries and territories, including Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Caribbean Protection Unit (CPU) primarily works remotely, collaborating with governments, civil society, and other UN agencies to support protection needs of displaced and stateless persons. The CPU’s role is multifaceted, focusing both on direct engagement with displaced persons and stateless individuals and on working with stakeholders to shape laws and policies that enhance protection for these groups. In this internship, you’ll support CPU’s mission by helping provide accurate information to individuals seeking guidance and by assisting efforts to strengthen the protection environment for displaced and stateless persons in the Northern and Eastern Caribbean.

The position
The Protection Intern will work under the guidance of Alex McDowall, Senior Operations Coordinator, supporting case management and protection activities across the region. This role offers opportunities to build skills in communication, outreach, and research within an international organization. The intern will assist the CPU team in identifying urgent needs and risks for those we serve and help ensure that appropriate protection measures are implemented.
Duties and responsibilities
Specific duties may include the following activities depending on the needs of the Carribean Protection Unit:

• Manage the CPU email account, responding to queries from asylum seekers, refugees, partners, and government counterparts regarding UNHCR’s role, mandate, and relevant rights and entitlements in the region.
• Support registration activities as required by the team.
• Support in protection assessment activities, including in regard to the identification of individuals’ vulnerabilities, protection needs, and prospects for durable solutions.
• Support individual asylum cases by conducting country-of-origin research and providing legal analysis.
• Attend meetings with partners engaged in protection activities across the Caribbean and prepare notes on these discussions.
• Conduct research, support participatory assessment exercises, and prepare factsheets and reports related to immigration laws, asylum procedures, and the human rights situation in Caribbean countries.
• Monitor and summarize media coverage on protection issues in the Caribbean including in particular Haiti to aid UNHCR’s advocacy efforts and enhance internal reporting.
• Perform other relevant tasks as assigned.

Minimum qualifications required.
In order to be considered for an internship, candidates must meet the following eligibility criteria:
• Be either a recent graduate (having completed their studies within two years of applying) or a current student in a graduate/undergraduate school programme from a university or higher education facility accredited by IAU/UNESCO1; and In the education section of the application, please make sure that your school is selected from the list of accredited higher education institutions when creating a profile in UNHCR Recruitment Portal - Workday. To do this, click on the magnifying glass next to Select School, then select Contains next to Description, type in the name of the school, click Look up and finally click on the result.

• Have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies in a field relevant or of interest to the work of UNHCR2.
• Candidates with previous UNHCR Internship experience must not have exceeded the maximum total cumulative full-time internship duration of eight (8) months.

Desirable qualifications and skills
• Strong interest in refugee rights, international relations, human rights, or humanitarian issues.
• Proficiency in English and either Haitian Creole or Spanish (essential).
• Excellent research, analytical, and drafting skills.
• Effective communication and interviewing abilities.
• Capacity to work independently with minimal supervision, as well as collaboratively within a team.
Conditions
• It is a full time role with working hours starting from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday (40 hours per week). The successful candidate will be assigned to support the team in Washington D.C.
How to apply
• The selected candidate will receive a link to the UNHCR recruitment portal to create a profile.
Obligations
• Acquiring and renewing current visas, residence permits including all associated costs, obtaining medical certification and compliance with taxation requirements (if applicable), are the responsibility of the intern.
• The selected candidate will need to provide UNHCR with a proof of funding from the sponsoring institution (if applicable), health insurance coverage applicable to the assigned internship location and a certificate of good health from a qualified medical practitioner certifying their fitness for work, as well as travel. In the event the candidate is not able to produce the required certificate, they will not be admitted to the Internship Programme.

For internships, completed university degree is not a requirement

• Allowance and Travel: The Sponsoring Institution shall provide non-reimbursable financial support in the form of a stipend/scholarship/allowance/etc. for the period of internship with UNHCR. Travel expenses to and from the internship location shall be the responsibility of the respective sponsoring institution. UNHCR is not responsible for any renumeration for the intern during the internship period.
• If you are a person with a disability and you expect you may face challenges during the recruitment process, you can indicate it in your application form.
• There are options to select any health conditions you may have and outline any necessary adjustments related to disabilities during the recruitment phases. Providing this information is optional. It will be treated as strictly confidential and used only for the purpose of finding out how to better assist you during the recruitment process.
• Adjustments for candidates with disabilities will be provided as best as possible and as needed upon request.
• All candidates will be assessed based on meeting the requirements for each vacancy in relation to experience, skills, and education.
• UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, travelling, processing, or training).
• We welcome applications from candidates with a refugee or stateless background.
• 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.

Standard Job Description

Required Languages English

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Desired Languages

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Additional Qualifications

Skills

Education

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Work Experience

Other informationThis position doesn't require a functional clearance

Home-BasedNo