UNECE Internship Guidelines

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) accepts interns from time to time on an ad hoc basis. In accordance with UN rules, the internships are open to graduate or post-graduate students, who have specialized in a field related to UNECE programmes of work.[1] Internships are offered free-of-charge and without financial remuneration. The United Nations accepts no legal or administrative liability for interns who are not accorded the status of a United Nations staff member. All costs connected with an internship, including travel, accommodationand insurance, are borne by the intern or his/her sponsor. An internship carries no expectancy of subsequent employment with the United Nations. Interns are required to submit a certificate of good health and, wherever applicable, to obtain themselves the appropriate visa.

Ideally the internship programme should be mutually beneficial to both the Organization and to the intern: the Organization benefits from the support of interns during their stay and the interns gain professional experience and an appreciation of the work of the United Nations that they will hopefully share with the “outside” world. In order to ensure that the internship programme at the UNECE is indeed mutually beneficial, the following guidelines should be respected:

  1. Interns should be taken onboard only if needed and for a precise assignment;
  2. Interns are not engaged for secretarial support and therefore their tasks should be related to helping to implement the agreed programme of work and to learning about what the UNECE does.
  3. Interns should be properly supervised: this implies that the supervisor should be in-town for most of their stay or be replaced by a colleague in their absence;
  4. Even though interns are not staff members they should comply with the Code of Conduct of UN staff;, reciprocally supervisors should treat interns as they would do with any other staff they supervise;
  5. Interns should get the feeling that they are part of a team and introduced to UNECE colleagues whenever possible, including the Director of their respective division.
  6. To help interns learn as much as possible about the UNECE, it is advisable to have them attend UNECE meetings, including the EXCOM;
  7. The Executive Secretary should participate in briefings with the interns at least twice a year.

Liaison with other UN departments and UN agencies could also be beneficial to the Interns.

[1]To qualify for UNECE internship programme, the applicants must be enrolled in a degree programme in a graduate school (second university degree or higher) at the time proposed for the internship. Applicants pursuing their studies in countries where higher education is not divided into undergraduate and graduate stages must have completed at least four years of full-time studies at a university or equivalent institution towards the completion of a degree.