The Strategic Planning and Communication Services (SPCS), in the Office of the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) provides communication and information technology services to the Department, including the development and coordination of access to electronic information resources in the economic and social field. Using the Department’s website at https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/ and publishing up-to-date news stories, reflecting the work of the Department and its 9 divisions, SPCS handles the Department’s overall web-based outreach efforts. SPCS distributes two online newsletters – the internal weekly DESAlert and the external monthly UN DESA Voice. SPCS also conducts outreach using social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Available Internship Opportunities

The internship is for a minimum of two months with an opportunity for extension to a maximum of six months. The internship is unpaid and full-time. Interns work five days per week (35 hours) under the supervision of a staff member in SPCS to which they are assigned.

Responsibilities

The selected candidate will assist SPCS in its internal and external communication outreach efforts supporting the 9 divisions of UN DESA, mainly through its main channels UN DESA Voice, the website of UN DESA and via its social media platforms. Key tasks will include: •To cover/attend events/meetings/seminars and conduct research and interviews, resulting in news stories and articles for UN DESA’s website and the external online newsletter UN DESA Voice. •To support the management of UN DESA’s social media activities, including preparing engaging text entries for UN DESA’s social media platforms; and communicating with fans and followers. •To provide design support, creating outreach products and digital assets for online/offline promotion • To provide research-based strategic advice on the development and use of new social media tools to attract new fans. • To assist with translations of news stories published on UN DESA’s website into other UN official languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish and/or Russian). •To assist in adhoc requests and projects relating to the internal and external communication efforts of SPCS. •To assist in the drafting of multimedia content for the DESA website using the content management system WordPress.

Competencies

The United Nations Core Competencies include:
• Communication: Ability to draft clearly and concisely, good written and oral language skills.
• Teamwork: Good interpersonal skills, ability to work collaboratively with colleagues from different national and cultural backgrounds to achieve organizational goals.
• Client Orientation: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be ‘clients’ and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view.

The intern is expected to:
• Have demonstrated a keen interest in the work of the UN and have a personal commitment to the ideals of the Charter; and 
• have demonstrated the ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which include willingness to try and understand and be tolerant to differing opinions and views.

Education

To qualify for an internship with the United Nations New York Headquarters Internship Programme, the following conditions must be met:

Applicants to the United Nations Internship Programme must at the time of application meet one of the following requirements: 
a) be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher, i.e. Master’s or equivalent, Ph.D. or post-graduate degree); b) be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor’s level or equivalent); or c) have graduated with a university degree (Bachelor’s, Master’s, Ph.D. or equivalent) and, if selected, must commence the internship within a one year period of graduation.

Applicants must be computer literate in standard software applications.

Work Experience

Applicants are not required to have professional work experience for participation in the programme.Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Fluency in spoken and written English is required for the Internship Programme. Knowledge of an additional official UN language is an asset. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish are the official languages of the United Nations Secretariat.Assessment

Potential candidates will be contacted by the hiring manager directly for further consideration.

Special Notice

A completed online application (Cover Note and Personal History Profile) is required. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. 

The Cover Note must include:
– Title of degree you are currently pursuing
– Graduation date (when will you be graduating from the programme)
– List the IT skills and programmes that you are proficient in 
– List your top three areas of interest
– Explain why you are the best candidate for this specific internship
– Explain your interest in the United Nations Internship Programme

In your Personal History Profile, be sure to include all past work experiences, IT skills and three references.

Due to a high volume of applications received, ONLY successful candidates will be contacted.

United Nations Considerations

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.

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.

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.Apply Now