Internship - Durable Solutions, Socio-Economic and Inclusion Service, Division of Resilience and Solutions

Terms of Reference
Internship
Division of Resilience and Solutions, Socio-Economic and Inclusion Service, Durable Solutions

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is offering a full-time internship within the Durable Solutions Unit of the Socio-Economic and Inclusion Service under the Division of Resilience and Solutions (DRS) at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

Established in December 1950, UNHCR is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for asylum seekers, refugees, returnees, internally displaced communities and stateless people. Every year, millions of men, women and children are forced to flee their homes to escape conflict and persecution. UNHCR currently operates in over 130 countries, using its long expertise to protect and care for millions.

Title: Durable Solutions Intern
Duty Station: Geneva, Switzerland
Duration: 6 months
Contract Type: Internship
Closing Date for Application: 27 June 2021
Start Date: as soon as possible

Organizational context
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. Presently, UNHCR has presence in several countries at field, regional and global levels.  Finding and/or promoting durable solutions to refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) is a core part of UNHCR¿s protection mandate. The Durable Solutions intern will participate in a range of activities within the Durable Solutions Team related to reintegration of refugees, protection of housing, land and property rights, local integration of refugees and solutions to IDPs and will become familiar with the daily realities of working at the headquarters. The intern will (i) gain a deeper knowledge of the international legal frameworks governing the organization¿s interventions and specifically, the solutions part of UNHCR¿s mandate; and (ii) develop writing and analysis skills and other professional working skills, such as project and time management, prioritization, team work, presentation skills, and drafting. 

The position
The intern will report to the (Senior) Durable Solutions Officer. The intern will assist in a wide range of tasks within the Durable Solutions team, including preparatory work for the upcoming High Level Officials Meeting (a follow up event linked to the 2019 Global Refugee Forum), preparation of ad hoc reports to ensure up-to-date information is available on solutions-related developments, support with the planning and organising of webinars and discussions within the thematic area of solutions and contribute to the development of guidance documents and materials. 

Duties and responsibilities
¿ Assist in developing training material for the 2021-2022 Code of Conduct Dialogue sessions including visualization materials;
¿ Contribute to the updating of the key consideration guidance note on unlocking solutions to IDPs by compiling additional good practices;
¿ Contribute to the development of the key consideration paper on local solutions to refugees by compiling correspondences on best practices;
¿ Contribute to drafting of reporting and external communication materials on local solutions, local integration and reintegration for refugees as well as solutions to IDPs;
¿ Support the preparation of other documents on solutions;
¿ Assist with ad hoc administrative and logistical tasks related to planning of webinars and other events;
¿ Assist in the drafting of talking points on solutions for various events;
¿ Assist in the updating/maintaining of solutions repository;
¿ Support the development of reporting and information-management tools;
¿ Assist with preparatory work on solution events for the High Level Officials Meeting scheduled to take place in Dec 2021 (a follow up event linked to the 2019 Global Refugee Forum);
¿ Undertake other relevant duties as required.

Minimum qualifications required
In order to be considered for an internship, candidates must meet the following eligibility criteria:
¿ Be either a recent graduate (having completed their studies within one year of applying) or a current student in a graduate/undergraduate school programme from a university or higher education facility accredited UNESCO ; and
¿ Have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies in a field relevant or of interest to the work of UNHCR.

NOTE: An individual whose father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister is a staff member of UNHCR, including a Temporary Appointment holder or a member of the Affiliate Workforce, is not eligible for an internship.

Desirable qualifications and skills
The ideal candidate will have:
¿ Strong analytical and drafting skills;
¿ Knowledge of UNHCR¿s mandate, international refugee and/or human rights law;
¿ Ability to work independently, as well as within a team;
¿ Good time management skills;
¿ Fluency in oral and written English. Knowledge of French is desirable.

Conditions
It is a full-time role with working hours starting from 9.00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday (40 hours per week). The successful candidate will be either home-based or with the team in the Geneva, Switzerland. The location will be determined prior to the start of the internship, and is dependent upon the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic in both the applicant¿s home country and at the duty station.

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.

UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, travelling, processing or training.

We welcome applications from candidates with a refugee or stateless background. Please note that the closing date for this internship advertisement is Sunday 27 June 2021 (mid-night Geneva time).