Work Location

Geneva

Expected duration

January – June 2025

Duties and Responsibilities

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is the part of the UN Secretariat responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies. OCHA’s mission is to mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors in order to alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies; advocate the rights of people in need; promote preparedness and prevention and facilitate sustainable solutions. The Assessment, Planning and Monitoring Branch (APMB) helps OCHA and partners deliver more effective joint responses using innovative, state of the art coordination tools and services. The work of the Branch focuses on the key activities which enable effective coordination: needs assessment and analysis, humanitarian response planning and continuous monitoring. APMB aims to ensure OCHA and partner staff have the skills, tools and technical support needed to meet the needs of people affected by crises through a well coordinated collective response effort, within the framework of a rigorous Humanitarian Programme Cycle (HPC). The intern will be located in the System-wide approaches and Practices Section within APMB. The principal focus of the System-wide Approaches and Practices Section (SWAPS) is to support humanitarian policy and practice of coordination at the global and field level, translated into effective coordination approaches and capacity. Daily responsibilities will depend on the individual’s background and duties may include but are not limited to providing assistance with the design and preparation of studies on humanitarian response, emergency relief and other related issues and in various follow-up activities; researching, analyzing and presenting information gathered from diverse sources on assigned topics/ issues; assisting with the preparation of various written documents, e.g. drafts sections of studies, background papers, policy guidelines, parliamentary documents etc.; assisting in the maintenance of reference/ resource information on specific topics or policy related issues; providing support with the organization of meetings, seminars, conferences, work-shops, etc., and serving as note-taker to such events; maintains awareness of current humanitarian affairs and related issues, to include relevant political, policy, gender considerations or other developments in specific subject area and/or country or region concerned and; performs other tasks requested by supervisor, as appropriate. In addition, the intern shall be given specific tasks related to the Assessment, Planning and Monitoring Branch (APMB) Coordination Mapping exercise. Description of the project The Coordination Mapping is an annual exercise jointly conducted by OCHA and the Global Clusters, providing a comprehensive overview of Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) humanitarian coordination mechanisms across humanitarian settings. This standardized process captures data on coordination structures, capacities, and their alignment with IASC coordination requirements. By combining data collection, analysis, and visualization, the mapping provides a critical resource to better understand the humanitarian coordination landscape. While the coordination mapping report does not aim to make recommendations or draw conclusions, it offers valuable insights into the breadth, types, and evolution of coordination structures. It also highlights key developments and trends that can inform decision-making and may warrant greater attention to strengthen humanitarian responses. Key tasks Coordination Mapping: • Track data collection progress in a spreadsheet. • Conduct follow-up with survey recipients to complete the questionnaire. • Perform helpdesk functions to troubleshoot issues encountered by survey respondents. • Record analysis outputs into a Data Points Registry database. • With great attention to detail, review inputted data, identify errors or inconsistencies and where required, clean data. • Using Excel skills extract segments of the dataset for key stakeholders, on specific thematic issues or clusters. • Create interactive data visualizations, including charts and tables, using a simple web-based tool. • Create slides for presentations. • Note-taking at section meetings. • Support other processes, as required. This internship shall be based in Geneva (Switzerland) with different working modalities, either in-person, remotely or hybrid. The internship is being offered for a maximum period of six (6) months, beginning at a mutually agreed time.

Qualifications/special skills

Applicants must meet one of the following requirements: – Be enrolled in, or have completed, a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher); – Be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s level or equivalent), Preferably in areas related to political science, social science, humanitarian affairs, international studies, public administration, economics, engineering, earth sciences or in a related field. Applicants to the UN Internship Programme are not required to have professional work experience. However, a field of study that is closely related to the type of internship that you are applying for is required. Your training, education, advance course work or skills should benefit the United Nations during your internship. Applicants must meet be a student in the final year of the first university degree (bachelor or equivalent),Master’s or Ph.D. Programme or equivalent, or have completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PHD Programme. Do you meet any of the above criteria? If yes, please indicate which one. Please note that you will have to provide an official certificate or proof of university enrollment at a later stage, if selected. Excellent writing and communication skills are required. Skills in information management, coordination, administration, translation are assets. Demonstrates strong attention to detail and a commitment to precision. Experience and confidence using MS Excel. Data analysis and visualization desirable. Keen interest in humanitarian coordination architecture desirable

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this internship fluency in English (both oral and written) is required. Knowledge of French or Spanish is desirable. Knowledge of another United Nations official language is desirable.

Additional Information

Not available.

Intern Specific text

Interns are not financially remunerated by the United Nations. Costs and arrangements for travel, visas, accommodation and living expenses are the responsibility of interns or their sponsoring institutions. Interns who are not citizens or permanent residents of the country where the internship is undertaken, may be required to obtain the appropriate visa and work/employment authorization. Successful candidates should discuss their specific visa requirements before accepting the internship offer.

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.