Strategic Communications Intern

Duties and Responsibilities

The internship is UNPAID and may be either full-time or part-time. It should be noted that full-time internship working hours are 35 hours per week, while part-time internship working hours are 20 hours per week. The internship will be undertaken either remotely outside the duty station or in a hybrid working arrangement at the UN Premise, New York, United States. Interns work under the supervision of DPO/SCS Public Information Officer, Gender Communications. This position is located in the Strategic Communications Section of the Office of the Director for Coordination and Shared Services (ODCSS) serving the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) and Peace Operations (DPO). The incumbent will report to the Digital Communications Manager, Strategic Communications Section.

The Office of the Director for Coordination and Shared Services enables, directs and coordinates departmental efforts to ensure the effective integration and management of both Departments. The Department of Peace Operations (DPO) provides political and executive direction to UN peacekeeping operations around the world and maintains contact with the Security Council, troop and financial contributors, and parties to the conflict in the implementation of Security Council mandates.

The Department works to integrate the efforts of UN, governmental and nongovernmental entities in the context of peacekeeping operations. DPO also provides guidance and support on military, police, mine action and other relevant issues to other UN political and peacebuilding missions. The Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) focuses primarily on five action areas in international peace and security, ensuring sound analysis and early warning, preventing conflict and engaging in peacemaking, managing political crises and violent conflicts, sustaining peace, and enhancing partnerships.

The Department’s mandate is to prevent and resolve conflict through inclusive political solutions.

Responsibilities:

• Assist the Strategic Communications Section with strategic communication and public outreach specifically on issues related to gender including the Women, Peace and Security mandate, gender parity and the prevention of misconduct including sexual exploitation and abuse;
• Assist in developing design, multimedia products, stories and content for digital platforms including the UN and UN Peacekeeping websites and intranet, Twitter/X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Medium and Instagram and assist in monitoring social media related to the issues highlighted above;
• Assist with drafting and editing UN Peacekeeping publications (e.g. fact sheets, brochures, newsletters, correspondences, pitches and donor-related updates) for internal and external sources related to the issues highlighted above;
• Support planning and live coverage of events;
• Assist with the planning, preparation and implementation of campaigns and public events related to gender and misconduct such as exhibitions, events, screenings, workshops and others related to the issues highlighted above;
• Assist with monitoring social media and media to determine trends and to inform communications efforts on gender and misconduct including sexual exploitation and abuse;
• Proactively contribute ideas for projects and media stories and pitches that will help to promote communications and build narrative on the work of UN peacekeeping in the area of gender, Women, Peace and Security and the prevention of misconduct;
• Prepare internal summaries and reports and support external presentations
• Perform any other duties as requested by the supervisor.

Qualifications/special skills

Applicants must meet one of the following requirements:

• be enrolled in, or have completed, a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher); (a) be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s degree or equivalent). Applicants to the UN Internship Programme are not required to have professional work. experience. However, a field of study that is closely related to the type of internship that you are applying for is required.
• Applicants must be a student in the final year of the first university degree (bachelor or equivalent), Master’s or Ph.D. Programme or equivalent, or have completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PH.D. Programme. Do you meet any of the above criteria? If yes, please indicate which one and attach proof to the application. Please note that you will have to provide an official certificate at a later stage. Proficient in standard word processing and software applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint or similar; Be proficient in standard office automation equipment, scanner, printer, etc.).
• Have demonstrated keen interest in the work of the United Nations and have a personal commitment to the ideals of the United Nations Charter. 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. The field of study must be closely related to the type of internship you are applying for.

Languages

• Fluency in English (both oral and written) is required; knowledge of French is strongly desirable. Knowledge of another UN official language is an advantage.

Source: https://careers.un.org/jobSearchDescription/239890?language=en