OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME
The mission of the WHE 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 other health emergencies and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations.
The Strategic Planning and Partnership (SPP) team, housed within the Executive Director's Office of the WHE Programme, provides overall leadership and coherence for strategic planning, performance and partnerships across the WHE Programme, ensuring harmonized and coherent strategic planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The team also works to ensure the quality and timeliness of delivery against defined objectives and builds partnerships and relations to support delivery of programmatic work across the three levels of the Organization and with other technical areas of WHO. The team liaises closely with the Director-General's Office and Deputy Director-General's Office to manage corporate processes and ensure the quality and timeliness of related preparations and products.
SPP plays a key role in both emergency response and operational readiness and preparedness. In the context of emergency response, SPP supports emergency management teams to develop comprehensive strategic response plans with Member States and country offices, particularly those in fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable settings and for acute emergency responses. These plans are monitored and updated through operational reviews and lessons-learning exercises. SPP also plays a key role in coordinating financing resources for health emergency response. In the context of operational readiness and preparedness, SPP works with information produced by emergency preparedness teams on risk and vulnerability mapping, contingency planning and operational readiness planning to inform the development of global strategies.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES
Under the supervision of a technical expert in the respective area, the intern is assigned the agreed terms of reference:
• map key actors and financing trends/mechanisms in health emergency response financing;
• support the collection, organization and updating of data for financial tracking;
• assist in reviewing and reconciling reported financial information;
• contribute to data quality assurance;
• support the preparation of dashboards, summaries and analytical products;
• participate in relevant team and partner discussions; and
• undertake other related tasks that contribute to the internship’s learning objectives.
Learning objectives
The purpose of the WHO Internship Programme is 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:
• understand the mandate of WHE Programme and the SPP Unit;
• gain practical insight into the links between strategic planning, partnerships, and financial tracking in health emergencies;
• develop practical skills in structured data management, validation, reconciliation and responsible publication;
• observe how WHO works with Member States and partners to support international coordination and strategic dialogue;
• develop professional skills in teamwork, precision, adaptability and the responsible handling of sensitive information.
DURATION OF INTERNSHIP
Start date: 4 January 2027
Duration: 24 weeks, full-time
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education
Have completed the equivalent of three years of full-time studies in public health, health policy, health financing, health economics, or data science at a university or equivalent institution prior to commencing the assignment; AND be enrolled in a course of study 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). The programme of study may also be in a closely related quantitative field, such as statistics, data analytics, information systems, business analytics or computer science.
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, the intern should demonstrate:
• strong practical knowledge of data management tools e.g. Excel, R including formulas, lookups, data validation, conditional formatting and pivot tables;
• demonstrated ability to manage structured data and reconcile information from different sources;
• ability to work systematically and maintain clear documentation, source traceability and version control;
• ability to work effectively as part of a team, collaborate across backgrounds and accept feedback;
• ability to follow standardized rules, methodologies and procedures consistently
• ability to handle sensitive information responsibly.
Experience
• Demonstrated experience using Excel for structured data entry, cleaning, validation, reconciliation or analysis through coursework, research, voluntary work, an internship, employment or a personal portfolio.
• Experience organizing records, following detailed instructions and producing accurate and traceable outputs.
• Experience reconciling information from multiple sources and documenting discrepancies is desirable.
• Experience creating or maintaining dashboards, particularly with R Shiny, is desirable.
• Exposure to R, SQL, Python, Power Query, Power BI, Tableau or another data-management or visualization tool is desirable.
• Knowledge of international health financing, donor reporting, resource mobilization, humanitarian financing or financing during an outbreak is desirable.
Languages
Essential: Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of French. Intermediate knowledge of another 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. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
• 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.
• In case the website does not display properly, please retry by: (i) checking that you have the latest version of the browser installed (Chrome, Edge or Firefox); (ii) clearing your browser history and opening the site in a new browser (not a new tab within the same browser); or (iii) retry accessing the website using Mozilla Firefox browser or using another device. Click this link for detailed guidance on completing job applications: Instructions for candidates