UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, good health….

This internship will help support both MHPSS and ADAP PGLT teams.

1. MHPSS: a three-year  collaboration between Spotify and UNICEF which utilizes the Spotify platform to help promote mental wellbeing, by creating a new UNICEF ‘youth mental wellbeing destination’ on the Spotify platform with content co-curated by UNICEF and young people The first year of this project will focus on responding to urgent mental well-being needs following the Ukraine war, we will then explore opportunities for expanding our scope of impact across a range of other emergency and non-emergency contexts.  The intern will help with the review and co-creation of age appropriate MHPSS materials that will support the development of mental health related podcast episodes.
2. ADAP: Recognizing that specific youth advocates may need differentiated support, UNICEF in partnership with young people and global partners are developing context-specific training and programming for youth advocates in a particular advocacy space. For example, we know that youth mental health advocates need support to navigate the stigma they face as public-facing mental health advocates, and/or, training on how to manage and offer referrals when individuals in their communities disclose personal and sensitive mental health information to them. Therefore, in 2022, UNICEF together with the MHPSS Collaborative adapted the current training model to be more specific to young people looking to make change in support of improved mental health norms, programs, policies and funding allocations.  The intern will help to develop complementary materials to support resource mobilization specific to the mental health youth-led change initiative, linked to the Youth Advocacy Guide.

How can you make a difference?

MHPSS Duties and Responsibilities:

Support the co-design and review process of mental health content for UNICEF’s ‘youth wellbeing destination’ on Spotify’s platform, by helping with activities such as: a desk-based literature review on how listening to mental health and wellbeing podcasts / audio journeys / music supports positive mental health, help seeking behaviour as related to mental health; joining workshop sessions to support sourcing ideas for content creation and identifying needs for youth friendly adaptations; drafting of summary findings report from online surveys (via UNICEF’s U-Report); etc.

ADAP Duties and Responsibilities:

Support the development of a 2-page concept note (based on previous documents) highlighting the specific value-add to the mental health community of this resource; one additional resource material (TBD); and draft two case studies specific to young people making change for mental health (format and model to base case study on to be provided).

Benefits to Intern:

UNICEF offers the opportunity for interns, talented university students, to gain valuable professional experience while being exposed to UNICEF’s work, in this case working across two innovative MHPSS related projects that involve a range of stakeholders. At the same time, UNICEF benefits from working with interns as they are a significant asset, providing updated academic knowledge, technical know-how and other valuable skills to the organization.

Minimum Requirements: (Standard for ALL internship advertisement):

• Be enrolled in an undergraduate, graduate, or Ph.D. degree programme or have graduated within the past two years.
• Applicants must be at least 18 years old.
• Letter of verification from the college or university that the intern is currently enrolled in an undergraduate school and has completed at least two years of full-time studies at a university or equivalent institution towards the completion of an undergraduate degree (if the candidate is 18 years old, this replaces the two-year bachelor’s completion requirement); or, Graduate Degree Program (i.e., Master’s, PhD).  It should also state the expected graduation date.
• Recent graduates are allowed until 2 years after degree completion.
• Copy of their most recent official transcript showing excellent academic performance
• Copy of Identification Card (ID)
• One letter of signed recommendation on letterhead or from professional email address

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Good organizational skills.
• Excellent knowledge of MS Office and relevant computer systems and applications.
  Excellent communication, writing and interpersonal skills.
  Ability to work effectively on multiple assignments simultaneously and adapt to the changing requirements.
• To be fluent in English, with strong writing and analytical skills. Additionally, fluency in another official and working language of the UN would be an asset.
• To have excellent academic performance as demonstrated by recent university or institution records.
• Additional consideration will be given for any past experience in related fields of MHPSS, innovation and / or supporting adolescent participation projects.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…
(1) Builds and maintains partnerships(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness(3)Drive to achieve results for impact(4)Innovates and embraces change(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity(6)Thinks and acts strategically(7)Works collaboratively with others.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.

UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Remarks: 

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.