View Vacancy - Human Rights Intern (CHEG18.295)

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Policy & Political roles)
UKMIS (UK Mission to the United Nations)

The United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations in Geneva represents the interests and policies of the UK at the UN and is recruiting a highly motivated and skilled Human Rights Intern.

The main purpose of this internship is to assist the Human Rights Team of the UK Mission in Geneva with attending and reporting from meetings of the UN Human Rights Council, the Universal Periodic Review and the human rights treaty bodies, and to provide administrative and policy support.

Main Duties and responsibilities:

This internship offers a unique opportunity to participate in the UK Mission’s human rights work as an integral part of the UK delegation, under the guidance of senior staff. The internship will offer a chance to learn about the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and about working on human rights issues in an international context. The work will be focused on the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and the UN treaty bodies. The selected intern will mainly attend human rights meetings at the UN, draft reports from meetings, assist with research and summaries of reports, and participate in organising events. A supervisor will guide the intern and provide on-the-job training.

Duties include:

  • Attend human rights meetings and reports from such meetings, including from HRC plenary meetings on country and thematic human rights issues, UPR sessions on various countries up for review, HRC side events, UN treaty body reviews of States Parties, meetings with NGOs, EU coordination meetings, and other human rights related meetings;
  • Assist team members in HRC negotiations with note taking, editing texts and background research;
  • Assist the team with outreach activities;
  • Carry out background research, including on HRC resolutions and UPR recommendations;
  • Reading and summarising human rights reports;
  • Help organise HRC side events;
  • Support the team with some administrative duties.
  • Degree in Human Rights, International Law, Diplomacy, International Relations, Political Science, or other relevant discipline;
  • Prior relevant internship or work experience from the UN, human rights, NGO or diplomacy is required;
  • Strong interest in working in the human rights field an the UN;
  • Very good computer skills (Microsoft Office Word and Outlook);
  • Fluency in English (both oral and written);
  • The successful candidate needs to be highly motivated, flexible and a great team player;
  • Excellent skills in communication, drafting and organisation;
  • Willingness to undergo a mandatory security check.
  • French, any level;
  • Additional computer skills (Microsoft Office Excel);
  • Experience using social media for professional purposes (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn).
10 July 2018
Internship
Full-time, Temporary, Intern
40
Europe, Eastern Europe & Central Asia
Switzerland
UK Mission to the Office of the United Nations, Geneva
International Organisation Delegation
1
CHF
1250
3 September 2018

All applicants should have permission to live and work in Switzerland. Applicants must hold a full passport valid for at least 12 months for any EU / Schengen country.

The UK Mission will offer the intern a monthly training allowance of 1,250 CHF. Please note that the intern will need to arrange and pay for his or her own travel, accommodation, mandatory health insurance, as well as any other costs. This internship will be for a period of 7 months.

The final appointment will be dependent upon successful security clearance. Please note that selected candidates will have to visit the Mission (around 4-6 weeks before starting) for a security interview, which is also at their own cost.

Please note that the deadline for applications is 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”.

We advise you to allow enough time to complete and submit your full application, since only applications completed and submitted before the deadline will be considered.

Please be aware that the deadline for submitting applications is considered to be the time zone for the country where the vacancy has arisen.

Please be advised that the UK Mission will not be able to meet the travel costs incurred when travelling to the interview, security check nor the costs connected with relocation if offered a position.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.

This opportunity is closed to applications.