The UNHCR Internship Programme places current students and recent graduates inside the UN Refugee Agency to gain practical experience in the humanitarian sector. Interns support UNHCR’s work protecting refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced and stateless people, working alongside professionals at headquarters, the Global Service Centres, or field country offices. Assignments are matched to an intern’s academic background and career aspirations, and are created based on each office’s capacity to supervise and provide meaningful work. Internships are advertised on a rolling basis on UNHCR’s recruitment platform.
Benefits & funding
- A food, local-transportation and living allowance for interns who do not receive financial support from an outside party.
- Full-time allowance: 50% of the monthly net salary of General Service (GS) level 3 step 1 in “H” (hardship/non-family) duty stations, or 70% of that GS-3 step 1 salary in all other duty stations.
- Part-time allowance: 50% of the applicable full-time rate at the respective duty station. Remote internships are also compensated.
- Return travel costs to and from the duty station reimbursed for interns engaged from outside the duty-station country (unless covered by a sponsor), by the most economical route.
- Practical experience across UNHCR functions and exposure to a large, multinational humanitarian workforce.
- Note: interns must arrange and pay for their own medical insurance (including emergency medical evacuation cover) and their own visa; UNHCR does not cover these.
Eligibility
- Be a recent graduate (completed studies within the two years before applying) or a current student in a graduate or undergraduate programme at a university or higher-education institution accredited by UNESCO.
- Have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies in a field relevant to, or of interest to, the work of the organization.
- Be proficient in English at minimum B2 level.
- Not have immediate relatives (father, mother, brother or sister) working for UNHCR as a staff member or affiliate at the time of application.
- Not have exhausted the maximum cumulative UNHCR internship period (8 months full-time, 12 months part-time), including any prior UNHCR internships.
- Open to all nationalities. Applications are welcomed from candidates with a refugee or stateless background, and without distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.
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Application process
- 1Search current internship openings on the main UNHCR recruitment platform (Workday); new opportunities are added regularly, and some regional and country offices also post on their own websites.
- 2Create an account on the recruitment platform and complete your profile (see UNHCR’s “Application and selection” guidance and the internship FAQs).
- 3Submit an application to a specific internship vacancy that matches your background.
Program timeline
Rolling
internships can begin at any time during the year; vacancies are advertised continuously on the UNHCR recruitment platform.
Each internship normally lasts 2–6 months, extendable up to 8 months (full-time) or up to 12 months (part-time) cumulatively.