United Nations Global Compact Internship Program 2017

The United Nations is the one international organization with the reach and vision capable of solving global problems.

The United Nations Foundation links the UN's work with others around the world, mobilizing the energy and expertise of business and non-governmental organizations to help the UN tackle issues including climate change, global health, peace and security, women's empowerment, poverty eradication, energy access, and U.S.-UN relations.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Intern - Economic Affairs

Job Opening Number: 6-Economic Affairs-DM OUSG-66635-R-New York (A)
Location: New York
Job Code Title: Intern - Economic Affairs
Department/Office: Office of the Under-Secretary-General

Org. Setting and Reporting

• The Global Compact offers two internship opportunities in its New York office. The Global Compact Office is the UN entity responsible for the overall management and coordination of the Global Compact initiative, including the management of the Global Compact's name and logo, and the Global Compact Integrity Measures. The Global Compact pursues two complementary objectives:
  • Making the Global Compact and its principles part of business strategy and operations everywhere; and
  • Facilitating cooperation among key stakeholders by promoting partnerships and other collective action in support of UN goals.
• To promote its 10 principles, the Global Compact also undertakes work on a range of corporate citizenship issues, including business and human rights, anti-corruption, partnerships for development, etc. Official UN internships can be offered for a minimum of 2 months.
• The DM/UN Global Compact Office internship programme prefers to initiate internships for an initial period of five months with an opportunity for a one month extension, pending on the needs of the department.
• The internship is UNPAID and full-time. Interns work five days per week (35 hours) under the supervision of a relevant staff member of the UN Global Compact Office, based upon their assignments.

Responsibilities
Depending on their level of experience and training, interns in the Global Compact Office will:

• Perform research and analysis relating to the topic of corporate citizenship, especially on human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption;
• Draft and edit publications, papers and other documents;
• Liaise with Global Compact stakeholders on key corporate citizenship topics;
• Support the organization of meetings and events;
• Assist with outreach activities;
• Assist in the coordination of the Communication on Progress process;
• Handle e-mail and other inquiries;
• Assist in the implementation of the Global Compact's integrity measures;
• Perform administrative tasks as assigned.

Additionally, responsibilities and scope of work may vary depending upon the issue team you choose to work with. Issue teams within the Global Compact are as follows:

• Anti-corruption: Encouraging business to work against corruption in all its forms; prompting companies to focus on anti-corruption measures.
• Human Rights: Develop tools and offer guidance to encourage and assist companies to implement a human rights framework into their business practices. Engage in outreach to persuade companies to do as such.
• Indigenous Peoples' Rights: Raise awareness of business on ways to engage respectfully and positively with indigenous peoples.
• Persons with disabilities: Raise awareness of business on ways to engage respectfully and positively with persons with disabilities.
• Labour: Encourage companies to implement the Global Compact's labour principles. This includes recognition of the right to collective bargaining; eliminating forced labour and child labour.
• Women's Empowerment & Gender Equality: Help mainstream gender equality and women's empowerment into corporate sustainability policies, practices and initiatives by promoting implementation of the Women's Empowerment Principles, a joint initiative of UN Women and the UN Global Compact.
• Environment: Support businesses to undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility in their business and manufacturing processes via various platforms and programmes (for additional information visit unglobalcompact.org/Issues/Environment/index.html)
• Business and Peace: Provides a dynamic forum to help companies operating in "conflict-prone," "weak" or "post-conflict" areas explore solutions to the dilemmas unique to their situation.
• PRME: Encourage business schools and academia to integrate corporate responsibility and sustainability into their curricula and learning material.
• Business of Tomorrow: Challenges and supports approximately 50 global corporations to reach higher levels of performance through collaboration on advanced approaches to corporate sustainability.
• COP Team: Follows up with Global Compact participants to obtain the Communication on Progress submissions and ensure compliance to GCO principles.
• Communications & Media: Position the UN Global Compact as the global thought leader on corporate sustainability to participants, stakeholders and the media through our diverse issue portfolio, publications, events, websites and a variety of other communications channels.
• Local Networks: Local Networks are groups of participants that come together to advance the Global Compact and its principles within a particular country or geographic region. Their role is to facilitate the progress of participants in the implementation and advancement of the ten principles, while also creating opportunities for multi-stakeholder engagement and collective action.

Competencies

• Communication: Ability to draft clearly and concisely, good written and oral language skills.
• Teamwork: Good interpersonal skills, ability to work collaboratively with colleagues from different national and cultural backgrounds to achieve organizational goals.
• Client Orientation: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be ‘clients’ and seeks to see things from clients’s point of view.

Education
To qualify for an internship with the United Nations Internship Programme, the following conditions must be met:

• Applicants must meet one of the following requirements: (a) be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher); (b) be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor’s level or equivalent); or (c) have graduated with a university degree (as defined above) and, if selected, must commence the internship within a one year period of graduation;
• Be computer literate in standard software applications;
• Have a demonstrated keen interest in the work of the United Nations and have a personal commitment to the ideals of the Charter; and
• Have a demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which include willingness to try and understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views.

Work Experience:

• Applicants are not required to have professional work experience for participation in the programme. However, applicants are encouraged to list all relevant work experience in their personal history profile.

Languages:

• Fluency in one of the working languages of the UN Secretariat, English or French, (both oral and written) is required; knowledge of the other is desirable.
• Knowledge of another UN official language is an advantage

Assessment:

• Potential candidates will be contacted by hiring manager directly for further consideration

Application Closing Date
13th November, 2016.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online