UN Women Internship Program: Benefits & Requirements

Undergoing the UN Women Internship Program will allow you to learn more about the project of gender and humanitarian work in an international environment. The UN Women Internship Program is an Undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate Internship for those who want to support the design, implementation, and evaluation of UN Women’s projects. The Internship program suits undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students who seek valuable learning experiences. Additionally, it’s open to students who can demonstrate the UN Women’s values of professionalism, respect for diversity, and integrity.

Overview of the UN Women Internship Program

United Nations (UN) Women is a UN agency that is fully committed to gender equality and the empowerment of women. The organization aims to support and challenge established conditions by pursuing a better life for every woman. UN women are proud of being an advocate for gender equality, working to develop and upholding standards globally. Plus, creating an environment in which every woman and girl can get their human rights and live up to their full potential.

As part of its dream to uphold standards worldwide, the organization created the UN Women Internship Program for undergraduate students and graduates. The UN Women Internship Program will allow you to know how to develop the laws, policies, programs, and services needed to implement gender equality strategies effectively.

With this internship, you work on projects that may be country-specific, regional, sectoral, or thematic focus. After getting into the UN Women Internship Program, you’ll work collaboratively with colleagues with professional backgrounds. The two months with an opportunity for an extension of up to six months of experience will help you to learn to work effectively in independent and collaborative settings.

Benefits of the UN Women Internship Program

The UN Women Internship Program offers a range of perks for successful candidates that meet its requirements, which include:

Use the opportunity to know how to give support on additional tasks and projects related to the program as required.
Access to strategic partnerships, communications, advocacy, policy, evaluation, human resources, program planning, research and data, finance, and ICT.
It’s a chance to edit and revise support on reports, briefs, guidance notes, ToRs, and other timely documents.
It’ll allow you to work in multicultural teams with people from all backgrounds and cultures. They also have to work with different actors, including remote contact.
Lastly, it’ll help you to take the initiative, ask questions, and contribute substantively.

In case you need more benefits of internships, we have a good article here about how to apply for the UNFCCC Climate Change Internships.

Requirements for UN Women Internship Program

Candidates interested in the UN Women Internship Program 2023 should satisfy the eligibility criteria to make the application successful. Most importantly, applicants should be ready to produce high-quality deliverables promptly before applying. To become United Nations Women Intern, you should fulfill the following requirements:

Must be pursuing a first-degree major or graduate school program in a reputable institution or have graduated with a university degree.
Must be pursuing academic studies in gender studies, human rights, international relations, or other similar subject at the university level.
You must conduct consultations and a needs assessment to identify current knowledge gaps and practices on ending violence against women.
It would be best to be computer literate in standard software applications, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
It would help to be proficient in English or working knowledge of another UN language.
Must have a passion for working and gain experience with a United Nations organization.
You must be ready to design and create a knowledge management plan to address identified gaps.

UN Women Internship Program application process

If you want to apply for the UN Women Internship Program 2023, applicants must apply through the organization’s career page. To express your interest in the internship program the UN Women offers, you must undertake the following steps one after the other.

Fill out the online application.

Firstly, you’ll submit your application and Resume after registering and understanding the job requirements. Once you complete the Inspira application and create a profile, upload relevant certificates or qualifications such as your transcript, UN Women Personal History Form (P11), and cover note. The cover note should include your interest in the organization, major, graduation date, and IT skills and programs.

Undergo the Competency-based Interview

The next step is to have an interview meeting with the hiring manager and share your awareness and sensitivity regarding gender issues and experiences with the organization. Please note that only the successful candidates will receive mail from the hiring manager.

Get Offer

As the last step of the United Nations 2023 Internship program, you can start your training once you get a message from the hiring manager. However, you must submit your signed internship application, two letters of recommendation, a copy of health insurance and school enrollment, passport, and visa.

Note that the undergraduate and graduate internship program application is ongoing until 28th November 2023; thus, you have enough time to apply. Also, you don’t need to pay a dime at any stage of the UN Women recruitment process.

Ways to Succeed as United Nations Intern

After meeting the UN Women Internship Program requirements, you have to be ready when you get the opportunity. It requires applicants to have the ability to work in different teams.

However, when you succeed in the application process, there are several pieces of advice for you.

First, ensure you can take the initiative, ask questions, and contribute substantively. It’ll help in the long run after the internship too.
Lastly, you must not apply for or be appointed to any position in UN WOMEN during the internship period.

Roles of UN Women Intern

The responsibilities of an intern at the UN Women are enormous and vary according to different departments. Nevertheless, the primary duties of an intern are listed below:

Filing finance documents, scanning and uploading finance documents to the electronic filing system.
Helping with the recruitment process of various contract modalities from the advertisement to the selection and onboarding of the candidate
Providing general office support with procurement processes for the office and program delivery.
Interns will participate in implementing regional activities and events, such as high-level inter-governmental meetings and forums, and help with proper documentation and technical support.
Contributing to data entry and database updating or revision

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Do UN Women interns get paid?

UN Women has unpaid internships. However, it partially subsidizes the basic living costs of interns without financial support from other sources, such as universities or other institutions, for the duration of the internship.

What are the goals of the United Nations?

A prospective UN Women internship applicant should know that the institution is passionate about working with governments and non-governmental agencies to design and implement laws, policies, programs, and services to help women and girls to claim their rights and increase their opportunities.

What questions are asked during the UN Women interview?

The interview questions for the UN Women internship will be based on how you cope with a failure to achieve your goals. The interviewer will also ask how your skills will strengthen the program.

How long is the internship at UN Women?

The UN Women Internship Program runs for a minimum duration of two (2) months and can be extended up to six (6) months.

Conclusion

UN Women Internship Program provides an excellent opportunity for outstanding graduate-level students to acquire direct exposure to UN Women’s work. With the skills gained from the training, you can provide operations support to UN Women programs and personnel. It’ll also allow you to experience first-hand the day-to-day working environment of UN Women.