This internship is located in the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA).
The Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) focuses primarily on five action areas in international peace and security, ensuring sound analysis and early warning, preventing conflict and engaging in peacemaking, managing political crises and violent conflicts, sustaining peace, and enhancing partnerships. The Department's mandate is to prevent and resolve conflict through inclusive political solutions.
Established in 2005, the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) helps to sustain peace by fostering international support for nationally owned and led peacebuilding efforts. The Office assists and supports the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), manages the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) on behalf of the Secretary-General, and works to enhance system-wide coherence and partnerships with UN and non-UN actors in support of building and sustaining peace in relevant countries.
The intern reports to the Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Adviser, Financing for Peacebuilding Branch, PBSO. The internship is for the period of six months (September-February 2023).
The internship is UNPAID and may be either full-time or part-time. It should be noted that full-time internship working hours are 35 hours per week, while part-time internship working hours are 20 hours per week. The internship will be undertaken either remotely outside the duty station or in a hybrid working arrangement at the UN Premise, New York, United States.
Our interns work as members of our team in the Office of the Assistant Secretary-General (PCSB). The intern will work with the Design, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (DMEL) team of the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) to support knowledge management, learning, and training initiatives. The intern will be primarily tasked with coordinating PBF Thematic Reviews and supporting other Fund-wide exercises and processes (such as coordinating PBF Community of Practice, providing data for the SG Report on PBF 2023, and supporting ongoing Fund-wide evaluative exercises). Specific responsibilities include:
1) Supporting the DMEL team and the Programme Officer in the development of the SG’s report on the Peacebuilding Fund for 2023. This will include identifying, editing and establishing key storylines, calculating key figures and data, supporting narrative design among others. The reporting component will also include supporting the DM&E expert in adding Frequently Used Indicators to the KOBO dashboard and analyzing the information received.
2) Provide day-to-day coordination support for three ongoing Thematic Reviews: on Human Rights and Peacebuilding (to be finalized by December 2023 – provide quality assurance support for final deliverables and lead on the implementation of the strategic communications plan); on Youth, Peace and Security (to be commissioned by the Fall 2023 – support with the inception stage of the study); and a third exercise with the topic to be determined (for which Terms of Reference drafting, partnership building, and procurement support will be required).
Thematic Reviews are part of PBSO’s commitment to contributing to the general peacebuilding knowledge base, as well as to continuous learning and improvement of PBF’s decision-making and programmatic guidance. Thematic Reviews aim to address two avenues of inquiry. First, they examine global trends, including policy debates and theoretical underpinnings, as well as programmatic approaches by other practitioners and donors on a given peacebuilding theme. Second, Thematic Reviews take stock of PBF-funded projects on a given theme with the purpose of understanding good practices and areas for programming improvement, assessing results and lessons-learned, and guiding future investments in this theme. These exercises are led by independent consultants for the duration of one year. Thematic Reviews are always conducted in partnership with other relevant actors, with PBF retaining the responsibility of providing coordination services on behalf of all managing partners.
3) Coordinate the PBF Community of Practice on a daily basis, including by ensuring regular communication via email listserve, WhatsApp and Yammer groups, and organizing learning exchanges for the COP, such as virtual quarterly thematic sessions, open forums, and DM&E training, to incentivize cross-fertilization of knowledge among PBF Secretariats and funds’ recipients. The procurement and management of simultaneous interpretation services as well as the preparation of training materials or presentations will be part of the responsibilities.
PBF Community of Practice (COP) consists of PBF Secretariat staff and other main PBF in-country focal points (including Peace and Development Advisers/PDAs and Resident Coordinator’s Office’s/RCO staff), and UN funds’ recipients in countries with smaller PBF investment.
4) Support the PBSO Gender Advisor and Gender and Youth Promotion Initiatives’ (GYPI) Coordinator with reviewing Project Documents (ProDocs) and budget tables of each approved project in 2023 to confirm the self-assigned Gender Marker and Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) financial allocation based on the quality of gender-sensitivity or gender-responsiveness in each proposal.
Since 2017, the PBF set an internal target of 30% to be allocated to gender-responsive investments annually, which the Fund has met or exceeded every year since, approving a record 47 per cent both in 2021 and 2022. Fund-wide GEWE financial allocation is calculated on the basis of GEWE allocations per each project approved a given year. This number is being included in the annual SG Report on PBF that is being drafted throughout December-February.
5) Other tasks as required, including supporting the DMEL team with their emerging needs, such as those related to SG Report on the PBF, Synthesis Review, Cohort Evaluation of GYPI projects, and project-level or Fund-wide reporting, among others.
Professionalism: shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations.
Communication: speaks and writes clearly and effectively. Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately. Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed. Asks questions to clarify and exhibits interest in having two-way communication. Tailors’ language, tone, style and format to match the audience.
Teamwork: solicits input by genuinely valuing others' ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others. Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals. Places team agenda before personal agenda. Supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position. Shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.
1. Applicants at the time of application must meet one of the following requirements:
(a) Be enrolled in, or have completed, a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher); or,
(b) Be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor's level or equivalent)
2. The field of study must be closely related to the type of internship you are applying for.
3. Proficient in standard word processing and software applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint or similar.
4. Have demonstrated keen interest in the work of the United Nations and have a personal commitment to the ideals of the United Nations Charter.
5. Have 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.
No working experience is required to apply for the United Nations Internship Programme. Your training, education, advance course work or skills should benefit the United Nations during your internship.
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 UN language is an asset. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish are the official languages of the United Nations Secretariat.
The United Nations Secretariat is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance and geographical diversity in its staff. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.
The United Nations does not financially remunerate interns. Costs and arrangements for travel, visas, accommodation, and living expenses are the responsibility of interns or their sponsoring institutions. For internships in the United States of America, interns who are not United States citizens, permanent residents, or not currently in the United States on a non-immigrant visa status will be required to obtain a G-4 visa. If already in the United States of America on another non-immigrant visa status other than G-4, interns will be responsible for ensuring that they have a valid visa and, if required, employment authorization, allowing them to undertake the internship. For internships outside the United States, interns who are not citizens of the country, permanent residents, or not currently in the country's non-immigrant visa status will be required to obtain a valid visa and work permit, allowing them to undertake the internship.
Applicants who are children or siblings (including stepchildren, half-siblings, or stepsiblings) of a staff member and sons or daughters-in-law may not be engaged as an intern.
In your Motivational Statement, please indicate when you would like to start your internship. Please note that start and end dates are flexible.
A completed online application is required. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.
The Motivational Statement must also include:
•Title of degree you are currently pursuing.
•Graduation Date (When will you be graduating/have graduated from the programme?)
•Explain why you are the best candidate for this specific internship
• Explain your interest in the United Nations Internship Programme
In your online Personal History Profile, be sure to include all past work experiences, IT skills, and three references.
Due to the high volume of applications received, we can ONLY contact successful candidates.
According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment.
Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.
Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process.
The paramount consideration in the appointment, transfer, or promotion of staff shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. By accepting an offer of appointment, United Nations staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and assignment by him or her to any activities or offices of the United Nations in accordance with staff regulation 1.2 (c). In this context, all internationally recruited staff members shall be required to move periodically to discharge new functions within or across duty stations under conditions established by the Secretary-General.
Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage.
The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.
Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.
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.