OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The mission of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme (The Programme) is to build the capacity of Member States to manage health emergency risks and, when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international health response to contain outbreaks and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations. The WHE Response division (WRE) is responsible for rapidly detecting and responding to health emergencies while leveraging relevant national and international partnerships, ensuring that emergency-affected populations in acute and protracted emergencies have access to essential health services and that systems are maintained and strengthened in fragile, conflict and vulnerable settings while implementing at scale, proven prevention strategies for priority pandemic/epidemic-prone diseases. The Health Emergency Alert and Response Operations (EOP) is responsible to provide end-to-end capacity for the detection, management, coordination and monitoring of acute public health emergencies, as well as the generation and dissemination of public health information around such events. It identifies potential acute events through early warning, provides risk assessment of such events, and delivers on the management, coordination and ongoing monitoring of acute events that require activation of an incident management structure at HQ. These include epidemics and acute humanitarian emergencies.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Under the supervision of a technical expert in the respective area, the intern will support the delivery of activities related to the area of work as follows. These activities may include any or all of the following to varying degrees according to the intern’s interest and skills.

  • Participate in the detection and monitoring of potential events of public health concern.
  • Monitor information on global health emergencies sourced from traditional and modern sources.
  • Detect potential signals/events using the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) system.
  • Contribute to other administrative, technical, and scientific activities of the Public Health Intelligence Unit, as needed.
  • Support the development and evaluation of solutions for public health intelligence needs.
  • Contribute to the production of Disease Outbreak News and other situation reports for acute emergencies.
  • Review literature and conduct literature surveys or undertake web research and data collection on specific subject area.
  • Assist in drafting, formatting and editing documents and materials in English.
  • Participate in team and unit meetings, and other relevant meetings as part of the EOP department.
  • Other tasks as assigned.


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The WHO Internship Program aims to provide an enriching learning experience for students and recent graduates. The Learning Objectives outlined within each internship vacancy are a key component of the programme.

Within this internship, the intern will:

1. Understand the objectives of Public Health Intelligence (acute events) (PHI) unit within the Health Emergencies Alert & Response Operations Department in the Health Emergencies Programme. Understand the difference in work between headquarters, regional offices and country offices regarding detection, verification, and risk assessment of acute public health events.

2. Understand the process of event detection, verification, risk assessment and information dissemination within a larger public health intelligence framework.

3. Become familiar with public health intelligence and early warning objectives and methods used at the three levels of WHO.

DURATION OF INTERNSHIP

The internship duration will be 24 weeks, tentative start dates for two internship opportunities:
- November 2, 2026
- November 16, 2026

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education
Have completed the equivalent of three years of full-time studies in health sciences or related field at a university or equivalent institution prior to commencing the assignment; AND be enrolled in a course of study in health sciences or related field at a university or equivalent institution leading to a formal qualification (applicants who have already graduated may also qualify for consideration provided that they apply to the internship within eighteen months after completion of their formal qualification).

Skills

Core competencies
• Teamwork
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communication

All interns should be able to demonstrate the following skills in line with the WHO core competencies:
• Communicating effectively orally and in writing
• Showing willingness to learn from mistakes
• Producing and delivering quality results
• Working collaboratively with team members

In addition, interns need to be familiar with commonly used computer programmes, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Knowledge of specialized computer programmes, for example, statistical software such as R, Stata may be an advantage.

Experience

• Experience in compiling and manipulating big data, while paying attention to details
• Experience in drafting reports
• Experience in the subject area through academic work or research
• Experience and interest in collaborating with different teams on a piece of work

Languages

Essential: Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of French. Intermediate knowledge of other UN language.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Interns do not receive a salary. They do however receive a living allowance. The amount of living allowance is different in each duty station. The amount also depends on any other external financial support received by the intern (grant, scholarships, etc.) and whether their permanent residence is in the duty station of the internship. In Geneva, for interns with permanent residence in the duty station, the maximum amount of the allowance provided by WHO is 739 CHF per month. For interns whose permanent residence is outside of the duty station, the maximum amount is 1680 CHF per month. The exact amount of the living allowance will be calculated for each intern, after selection, based on a legal financial disclosure form that the individual will complete. In addition, all interns in Geneva will receive daily lunch vouchers for meal expenses (20 CHF per working day). WHO also provides all interns with accident and medical insurance coverage.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • Please note that internships at WHO are very competitive and only a small number of applicants will be accepted every year. Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
  • Living abroad is expensive and finding accommodation can be challenging. All intern candidates should be aware of these factors before they consider applying for a WHO Internship.
  • If selected for a WHO Internship, candidates will be required to provide certified copies of proof of enrolment in an eligible course of studies, a completed WHO medical certificate of fitness for work, and the contact details for reference checks.
  • WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net.
  • WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.
  • WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.
  • The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.
  • The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its workforce. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply.
  • Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to reasonableaccommodation@who.int
  • WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
  • Please note that WHO’s contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Department of Staff Health and Wellbeing (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please contact SHW directly at shws@who.int.
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