Internship - Office of the Staff Council in Geneva, Switzerland

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR INTERNSHIP

Organizational Unit: Office of the Staff Council

Duty station: Geneva, Switzerland

Duration of the internship: 3 - 4 months (full time preferred)

Expected start date: 15 January 2019

Background information/Organizational Context

The Staff Rules and Regulations of the United Nations call for the establishment of a staff representation body as the sole and exclusive organ for maintaining continuous formal contact and communication between the High Commissioner and staff on issues relating to staff welfare.  Staff Council provides a channel of communication between the administration and staff for discussion, co-operation and negotiation on matters of mutual concern that affect working conditions. The Staff Council also safeguards the rights of all staff members and defends their interests in their circumstances of employment, work and general welfare. 
The Staff Council has formulated a Programme of Work outlining several priority intervention areas such as monitoring the implementation of Human Resources policies and staff entitlements, engaging with the various entities on strengthening the system to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment, improving support mechanisms for staff on issues pertaining to administration of justice and legal advice as well as developing various communication strategies to ensure that staff are duly informed of the Staff council initiatives and actions through regular Staff Newsletter Flash News Bulletins.

The Staff Council is looking for an intern to assist in the implementation of the Staff Council's Programme of Work as outlined in the terms of reference below.

Objectives of the internship:
a) To assist the Staff Council in strengthening its capacity to provide a more efficient channel of communication with staff and other relevant entities both within UNHCR in the UN common system on matters of concern that affect staff working conditions.
b) To assist the Staff Council in safeguarding the rights of all staff members, including promoting and defending their interests as regards conditions of employment, work and general welfare.

Duties and Responsibilities
- Assist in developing and implementing communication strategies and plans that increase exposure of UNHCR Staff Council and its functions.
- Assist in coordinating the development and publication of in-house staff magazine ¿Dialogue¿.
- Contact staff in the field to encourage them to produce strategic and general interest news and features for publication in ¿Dialogue¿.
- Coordinate the upload of relevant materials and communication bulletins on intranet and designing creative ways to improve the Staff Council website
- Assists in research on documentation and policies related to the Administration of Justice for individual and other cases; including research into UN and UNHCR policy documents as well as any other research needs within the Office of the Staff Council.
- Conduct research into case law published by the UN Dispute Tribunals and the Appeals Tribunal with a view to preparing summaries for dissemination
- Assist in producing frequent and regular communication bulletins on behalf of the Staff Council.
- Carry out any other duties as required.

Minimum qualifications required
- Ideally a background in Law, International relations, Arts, Communications or any other relevant field
- Very good organizational, analytical, communication and research skills
- Excellent oral and written skills in English, knowledge of French desirable
- Ability to work independently and be proactive, when necessary
- Good interpersonal skills and be a keen team-player
- Experience using the Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). Experience using Adobe Creative Suite is an advantage but not essential.

Eligibility
In order to be considered for an internship, candidates must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Recent graduate (those persons who completed their studies within one year of applying)  or current student in a graduate/undergraduate school programme from a university or higher education facility accredited by UNESCO; and
- Have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies in a field relevant or of interest to the work of the Organization.

Please note that candidates who have immediate relatives (father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister) working as staff members of UNHCR are not eligible.

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. Please note that the closing date for applications to this internship is Monday 17 December 2018 (mid-night Geneva time).