Intern with the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Human Rights of Older Persons

Duties and Responsibilities

The internship positions within the Equality and Non-Discrimination Branch (END) of the Thematic and Special Procedures Division (TSP) of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva are designed to support the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Human Rights of Older Persons (IGWG HROP). The IGWG HROP has the mandate of elaborating a draft international legally binding instrument on the human rights of older persons with the objective of promoting, protecting and ensuring the full enjoyment of human rights by older persons.

Interns will be tasked with a range of responsibilities that are crucial to the operations of the IGWG HROP. These include assisting in the preparation of procedural notes and other preparatory tasks; attending and summarizing meetings; assisting with logistics during meetings, including interactive presentations, virtual connections and assisting with the list of speakers; undertaking historical research and examination of precedents; undertaking media-based analysis and research; compiling statistics, as well as design and tabulation of charts, tables, and graphs; maintaining databases of meetings; contributing to the drafting/preparation of notes, talking points, and other papers and briefing materials; updating/redesigning websites; and performing other tasks as necessary.

Qualifications/special skills

The United Nations internship programme is intended to expose students or recent graduates to the United Nations in order to enhance their educational experience and to help them to gain experience in the work of the Organization.

At the time of application, applicants to the programme must meet one of the following requirements:

• Be enrolled in, or have completed, a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher); or,
• Be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s level or equivalent).

While prior professional experience is not a requirement for internships, candidates should demonstrate a strong interest in human rights issues and a commitment to the values of the United Nations. This can be shown through academic achievements, volunteer work, or involvement in relevant extracurricular activities. Candidates should also have a demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs. In addition, candidates should be computer literate in standard software applications, especially in Microsoft 365 Products.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this internship fluency in English is required, knowledge of the French of Spanish is desirable.