Intern - Programme Management

In-person; Remote or Hybrid

6 months

The role of the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG) is to support the Secretary-General (SG) in performing the function as "Chief Administrative Officer" of the Organization, who shall act in that capacity and perform "such other functions as are entrusted" by the Security Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social Council and other UN organs. Within the EOSG, the Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) works towards the promotion and implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Its strategy is aimed at leveraging the unique position, role and convening power of the Secretary-General and of the Deputy Secretary-General (DSG) towards maintaining momentum, accelerating implementation, and promoting ambition on Sustainable Development Goals. Within this mandate, SDU supports the strategic engagement of the SG and the DSG on specific themes such as financing for development, social protection and jobs, environment and climate action, gender equality, global health, data for the SDGs, transforming food systems and other related issues to the 2030 Agenda. The interns will be performing the functions below to support the organization of events and other ad-hoc projects or assignments:

• Provide policy analysis for the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), collaborating across the different areas of work within the Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) and supporting coordination efforts with relevant divisions of the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG) and with United Nations Agencies.
• Help monitor, identify, and analyze global trends related to sustainable development, with a focus on one or several of the following eight thematic tracks: 1) financing for development, 2) environment, energy and climate change, 3) health, 4) gender, 5) governance & peace and security, 6) sustainable food systems, 7) education, and 8) SDG acceleration and partnerships.
• Support the preparation of analytical reports, papers, talking points, background notes, correspondence, key messages, video remarks, interviews, and daily briefs.
• Support the preparation of meetings, events, summits, and visits for senior officials.
• Support the transition of the new UN Senior Leadership Additional information on the specific thematic tracks: 1) Financing for Development: Assisting with the analysis and research for the stocktaking of the Secretary-General's Finance Strategy for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Supporting workstreams related to Financing for Development (FfD), including preparations for key upcoming events such as FfD-related events during the High-Level Week, and relevant multilateral processes including the G20, BRICS, COP, and others. 2) Environment, energy and climate change: Supporting the preparations and monitoring the outcomes of high-level summits related to environmental policies, such as COP 31 on climate change, the 2026 UN Water Conference, COP 17 UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework; staying abreast of institutional processes related to the negotiations for the treaty on the reduction of plastic pollution. 3) Health: Supporting the Secretary-General's efforts to strengthen global health systems, advancing pandemic preparedness, adopting universal health coverage, and promoting mental health advocacy, developing institutional capacity for health services in underserved regions. 4) Gender: Supporting the Secretary General's office mandate to respect gender equality across the world, through equal labor opportunities, remuneration, and recognition, protect women and girls from systemic discrimination and violence, and increase opportunities for gender empowerment, worldwide. 5) Governance, Peace and Security: Supporting analysis, initiatives, forums and engagements on humanitarian, peace and development matters. Contributing to monitoring, analysis and engagement on priority regions, countries, and topics, including the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes Region, Haiti, and Afghanistan; the collaboration with the African Union; and climate security and advancing development in complex settings. Contributing to aspects of the United Nations reform, particularly those that pertain to cross-pillar collaboration and coherence. 6) Sustainable Food Systems: Supporting the team to advance the Office's efforts related to sustainable food systems, leading to greater food security, local livelihoods and reduced greenhouse gas emissions in the sector. Support relevant projects to move forward on the Secretary-General's Call to Action for Accelerated food systems transformation in coordination with the UN Food Systems Hub. 7) Education: Supporting the team to advance the Office's priorities on education, in particular, the preparation for high-level events on education and monitoring the outcomes of the TES+4. 8) SDG acceleration and partnerships: Supporting the work of the Office to strengthen effectiveness through partnerships with private and public partners to accelerate the 2030 Agenda.

Applicants to the United Nations Internship Programme must at the time of application meet one of the following requirements: 1) Be enrolled in, or have completed, an undergraduate (Bachelor’s level or equivalent) or a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent or higher such as Master's degree or equivalent, Ph.D. or post-graduate degree). 2) Be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor’s level or equivalent). 3)Work experience is not required to apply for the United Nations Internship Programme. Your training, education, advance course work or skills should benefit the United Nations during your internship. 4)Knowledge of standard software applications, especially MS Word, MS Powerpoint, other presentation and visualization software and MS Teams, is desirable. 5)Knowledge in report editing and drafting news articles and /or social media posts is desirable. Knowledge in data analysis using statistical software (e.g. R, Stata, SPSS) or AI-assisted tools (e.g. Copilot) to support coding, analysis or research is desirable.

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position advertised, fluency in English is required.

Not available.

Interns are not financially remunerated by the United Nations. Costs and arrangements for travel, visas, accommodation and living expenses are the responsibility of interns or their sponsoring institutions. Interns who are not citizens or permanent residents of the country where the internship is undertaken, may be required to obtain the appropriate visa and work/employment authorization. Successful candidates should discuss their specific visa requirements before accepting the internship offer.

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.