Human Rights Intern

This internship supports the Human Rights Treaties Branch activities including assisting with treaty body meetings, preparing legal analysis, conducting research, supporting capacity building activities, and providing administrative support. The intern will gain experience in human rights treaty monitoring and related UN mechanisms.

Responsibilities

• Prepare country and legal analysis and draft legal background papers for human rights treaty bodies related to State party reporting and individual complaints procedures.
• Conduct research and draft reports on treaty body jurisprudence.
• Assist with handling individual communications under treaty body complaints procedures.
• Provide support for inter-state communications submitted to treaty bodies.
• Assist in preparation of Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture country visits.
• Take notes during sessions and provide administrative support including preparation of documentation and reference files.
• Provide input to outreach and information tasks including the Branch newsletter.
• Support the Universal Human Rights Index and treaty body documentation databases.
• Conduct research and develop training exercises for capacity building activities on State reporting to treaty bodies.
• Prepare the Weekly Human Rights Treaties Branch Update.
• Assist with preparation of reports and background papers for the General Assembly, Human Rights Council, and annual meeting of Chairpersons of treaty bodies.
• Support organization of training activities and development of training material.
• Assist with evaluation of project proposals for funding.
• Perform other duties as requested by the supervisor.

Requirements

• The minimum educational qualification required is a High School Diploma.
• The applicant must be enrolled in, or have completed, a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher); or be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s degree or equivalent).
• Candidates should have relevant coursework in business administration, management, strategic communications and design, project management, public administration, law and legal administration (criminal justice), or human resources management.
• Open to a broad range of educational, project, volunteering, or research experience backgrounds.
• Fluency in English or French is required; knowledge of the other is an asset.
• Knowledge of another United Nations official language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish) would be an advantage.
• Demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, including willingness to understand and tolerate differing opinions and views.
• Must be a team player who is collaborative, reliable, and communicative.

Skills

• Legal Analysis
• Human Rights Research
• Treaty Monitoring
• Project Management
• Strategic Communications
• Public Administration
• Legal Administration
• Capacity Building
• Administrative Support
• Cross-Cultural Communication
• Fluency in English
• Fluency in French

Languages

English, French