Economic Affairs Intern

About United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945. Currently made up of 193 Member States, the UN and its work are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter. The UN has evolved over the years to keep pace with a rapidly changing world. But one thing has stayed the same: it remains the one place on Earth where all the world’s nations can gather together, discuss common problems, and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity.

ESCAP-SSWA a division of the UN covers ten member States in South and South-West Asia, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Türkiye. A key mandate of ESCAP-SSWA is to support the countries in the subregion to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The work programme of ESCAP-SSWA covers carrying out analytical and normative work, providing policy support, technical assistance and capacity building to member States, promoting policy advocacy, building networks among various stakeholders etc.,

Your role

Along the subregional priority areas, as per the mandate received from UNESCAP member States:

• Inclusive growth, supporting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), structural change and job creation, gender equality and women's empowerment, social protection, and sustainable development
• Strengthening connectivity, trade and transport facilitation, and regional economic integration
• Regional cooperation for food and energy security
• Regional cooperation for disaster risk reduction
• Assisting LDCs and LLDCs in the implementation of the Istanbul and Almaty Programmes of Action as well as SDG targets

Your responsibilities

Under immediate supervision by a staff member (s), the intern is responsible for contributing to the research project (s) related to the work programme of SSWA for the implementation of the SDGs. The topic of the project will depend on the intern's background, skills, and interests.

Other duties may include undertaking the following:

• Regular monitoring of relevant developments, policy trends and news articles related to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs in the subregion;
• Monitor and collect details on national policies on selected sustainable development issues of ESCAP-SSWA Member States
• Collect data, generate figures and tables, and describe and analyze the tables and results to support ESCAP-SSWA staff in related research and analytical work
• Attend conferences, seminars, meetings and other events and provide written highlights and briefing notes
• Provide administrative, organizational and conference management support for ESCAP-SSWA events
• Other activities may be decided by the supervisor

Training & development

Learning Opportunities during the course of internship: ESCAP-SSWA provides interns with an opportunity to enhance their understanding of:

• Socio-economic challenges the sub-region is facing in particular within the 10 countries served;
• The processes of regional and multilateral cooperation;
• Mandates and operations of the United Nations in developing countries in its efforts to provide policy advice, capacity building and a platform for governments to create space for economic and political integration.

Salary & benefits

The internship is unpaid and full-time. The following are the benefits for an intern at the UN,

• You will be given a real chance to work with their people.
• As part of their team, working directly with outstanding and inspiring career professionals and senior management, you will be exposed to high-profile conferences, participate in meetings, and contribute to analytical work as well as organizational policy of the United Nations.
• Initially, you will take on the amount of responsibility you can shoulder; the potential for growth, however, is yours to develop.

Career progression

From the moment you join the United Nations dynamic team of staff members, you can be certain of one thing - Their support system will ensure that you are not left alone to figure out your career. The development of every staff member is very important to us – helping you to grow helps them to become better at what they do. They are therefore committed to providing all the available tools to respond to your needs.

Work-life balance

The Work-life balance is rated at 4.2/5.0 (source: Ambition Box). Interns work five days per week (37.5 hours) from the office under the supervision of staff member(s) in ESCAP-SSWA to which they are assigned. Everyone works really hard and has great sense of purpose.

Culture & vibe

UN provide perspectives about the instrumental role of culture in providing opportunities for decent work, poverty reduction, social resilience, gender equality and other aspects of Sustainable Development.

While UN India’s diverse network of agencies provides extensive work opportunities, it’s a different story to move vertically within these positions. Insiders revealed a cumbersome career progression system that’s buried in paperwork.

Fortunately, freshers can divert their attention to other positive aspects of working for the organization. UN India teems with highly educated people from several countries. In other words, their learning experiences will transcend beyond different cultures.

Freshers can expect a multicultural workplace where people display ‘integrity, professionalism, and respect for diversity.

About you

To qualify for an internship with the United Nations Internship Programme, applicants to the programme must at the time of application meet one of the following requirements:

• Be enrolled in, or have completed, a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher); or
• Be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s level or equivalent).

Work Experience

No working experience is required to apply for the United Nations Internship Programme. Your training, education, advanced course work or skills should benefit the United Nations during your internship.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Fluency in spoken and written English is required for the internship. Knowledge of another official UN language is an advantage. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish are the official languages of the United Nations Secretariat.

The United Nations Core Competencies include:

• Communication: Ability to draft clearly and concisely, good written and oral language skills.
• Teamwork: Good interpersonal skills, ability to work collaboratively with colleagues from different national and cultural backgrounds to achieve organizational goals.
• Client Orientation: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be 'clients' and seeks to see things from clients' points of view.
• Planning & Organizing: Allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work and monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary
• Accountability: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments, and delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within the prescribed time, cost and quality standards

How to apply

To apply for this role, simply click the "Apply on employer site" button on this page to submit your application with the UN.

A completed online application (Cover Note and Candidate Profile) is required. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

The Cover Note must include:

• The information about the degree you are currently pursuing (Title, University, etc.)
• Graduation Date (when will you be graduating from the programme)
• Your estimated availability period (Specific dates will be discussed in the next steps)
• List the ICT skills and programmes (including courses/modules at University that you have successfully completed) that you are proficient in
• List your top three areas of interest (such as the link between ICT and disaster risk reduction)
• Explain why you are the best candidate for that specific preference.
• Explain your interest in the United Nations Internship Programme

In your online Candidate Profile, be sure to include all past work experiences (if any), IT skills and relevant University courses/modules, and three references.

Potential candidates will be contacted by UNESCAP staff for further consideration.