Deadline for Applications
October 4, 2025
Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)
H (no hardship)
Family Type (not applicable for home-based)
Family
Staff Member / Affiliate Type
Internship
2025-11-15
Organizational context
Located in UNHCR Headquarters, Geneva Switzerland, the Ethics Office was established in June 2008 to assist the Secretary General and the High Commissioner in ensuring that all staff members observe and perform their functions consistent with the highest standards of integrity required by the UN Charter, staff regulations and rules, and relevant guidelines and policies. UNHCR Ethics Office The UNHCR Ethics Office has the following key responsibilities:
• Provide confidential guidance to UNHCR staff to ensure practical implementation of UNHCR’s policies, procedures and practices relating to ethical standards called for under the UN Charter, Staff regulations and rules and UNHCR’s Code of Conduct.
• Managing and support the UNHCR Code of Conduct Dialogue sessions in the Field and at Headquarters to foster an ethical culture in the Organization.
• Implementing the Policy against retaliation for reporting misconduct (Whistleblower).
• Administering the United Nations Financial Disclosure Programme
• Develop policies, guidelines, tools and training programs to implement Ethics Office mandate. The Ethics Office on an ongoing basis undertakes analysis of its achievements and conducts risk assessment to be more responsive and supportive to country level operations. It holds consultations with relevant
Bureaus/Division/Units, with colleagues in the Field and at Headquarters on issues for which their inputs and experiences are required.
The position
Duties and responsibilities
Under the immediate supervision of the Director of the Ethics Office, the intern will perform the following functions:
a. Communications
• Support the development and implementation of communications strategies related to Ethics;
• Monitor news and popular trends to insert UNHCR’s messaging into ongoing conversations; identify key moments for proactive communications.
• Contribute to development of news-driven and authoritative content to lead the narrative on Ethics and show UNHCR’s impact (e.g. interviews, press releases, flagship reports, speeches), create emotive storytelling to generate empathy (e.g. stories, multimedia content) and mobilize action by signposting concrete steps people can take
• Ensure content created reaches maximum impact by developing strategies for distribution from the outset, boosting the visibility of our content on relevant UNHCR channels.
• Closely monitor the implementation of communications projects and adjust accordingly. Benchmark the results of communications projects against set success indicators; build on communications successes.
• Perform other related duties as required.
b. Executive Support
• Monitor, screen, respond to and distribute incoming communications to the supervisor to identify priority matters that need to be addressed by the supervisor and propose actions; analyze supporting documentation and summarize most relevant points for the supervisor; ensure that appropriate action is taken by responsible senior managers on matters brought to the attention of the supervisor.
• Contribute to the management and maintenance of the supervisor’s schedules, appointments, correspondence and missions with support of the Principal Secretary if relevant. Follow-up on policies and instructions presented by the supervisor.
• Accompany the supervisor to meetings where relevant, in order to prepare notes on the discussions, and minutes of meetings. Track progress on agreed issues, follow-up with focal points on deadlines, commitments made, actions taken, and coordination of collection and submission of reports and requests for information.
b. Other duties:
• Perform other duties as required by the Office and provide debriefing and hand-over notes to Ethics team and relevant colleagues at the end of internship
Eligibility
To be considered for an internship, candidates must:
• be a recent graduate* or current student in a
graduate/undergraduate school programme from a university or higher education facility accredited by UNESCO;
• have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies in a field relevant to, or of interest to, the work of the organization; and
• not have immediate relatives (father, mother, brother, or sister) working for UNHCR as a staff member on any contract type or as an affiliate at the time of application.
*Recent graduates are considered to be candidates who completed their studies within two years of applying for an internship with UNHCR.
Desirable qualifications and skills
• University studies completed preferably in Journalism, communications, public information, media or international relations.
• Experience in the field of communication is an asset
• Experience in data visualization or graphic design is an asset
• Fluency in English (written and oral);
Arabic/Spanish/French an asset
• Excellent drafting and communication skills
• Ability to work in a multicultural team
• Ability in using Excel, PowerPoint, required, other design tools and software, WebEx, Teams..
• Flexibility and adaptability.
Location
The successful candidate will be based with the team in Geneva, Switzerland.
Conditions
The internship is for an initial duration of six months (with possibility of extension) and will begin in November 2025. It is a full-time role with working hours starting from 9.00 am to 6:00 pm Mondays to Fridays (40 hours per week).
Allowance
Interns who do not receive financial support from an outside party will receive an allowance to partially help to cover the cost of food, local transportation and living expenses.
The UNHCR workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages and opinions. UNHCR seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates without distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.
UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, travelling, processing or training.
We welcome applications from candidates with a refugee or stateless background.
Standard Job Description
Required Languages
English
,
,
Desired Languages
French
,
,
Additional Qualifications
Skills
Education
Certifications
Communications
Other information
This position doesn't require a functional clearance
Remote
No