Are you interested in starting a career in International Development, maybe with the United Nations family?

There are quite a lot of UN organizations that offer internships opportunities in summer and in wintertime.

Why is an internship in an international organization of such great value?

•  it’s a great experience

• a good chance to get your foot in the organization and potentially longer term a job

• huge advantage to have a UN reference on your CV which may help you to get a job in another organization

• an opportunity for you to discover new parts of the world, new cultures and people.

How long is a UN Internships? How many hours is an internship? Is there a minimum duration and length for a UN internship?

The “UN” is not one big employer and internships length and duration can vary from one UN organization to the other, the IMO (International Maritime Organization), based in London, for example offers one of the shortest internships programmes which runs between 2-4 weeks.

Some UN organizations, such as WHO, UNDP or UNICEF, offer one-month internships but in general most internships run for six months.

Most internships run for six months with the option to be renewed for another 6 months, although this is not a general rule. There are some UN system agencies that run longer internship opportunities for 12 months. Alternatively, you may want to look into the UNs or World Banks YPP programme.

What types of internships does the UN offer and how many hours does an intern commit a week?

The UN system differentiates between full time and part time internships.

Full-time interns usually work 5 times a week, from Monday to Friday, between 9am-6pm, with working hours that vary between 30 and 40 hours per week; whereas part-time inters flexible working hours are usually specified by the UN agency/ the vacancy.

Finding the ‘right’ UN system organisation that matches your profile, education, skills and competencies, can lead to a fulfilling career where you get the chance to leave an important impact on the world. It means working with people from all over the world, getting to know different cultures and strengthening your multicultural team working skills while working on a good cause for human mankind and our planet.

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