🇺🇸 Political Affairs Intern 🕊️ UN Leadership Support Section Internship in New York, United States 🌐

The United Nations is offering an internship in the Leadership Support Section (LSS), which is mandated to support the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and of Peace Operations in the UN Secretariat with the identification and appointment of senior leadership in UN Field Missions, including Special Representatives of the Secretary-General, Deputy Representatives of the Secretary-General, and Special Envoys across all Peacekeeping and Special Political Missions. The Section focuses on sourcing senior talent, vacancy management and recruitment processes, as well as offering support to currently serving leaders. It is also responsible for outreach and partnership-building initiatives designed to expand and diversify the pool of potential candidates for these senior posts. The purpose is to support the Secretary-General on the leadership agenda in the field and to empower values-driven leaders to fulfil their mandates in pursuit of bringing and sustaining peace, stability and prosperity to and for the people they serve.

What You Will Do

Under the supervision of the Programme Management Officer, the intern will carry out the following duties:

🔎 Conduct online research to update the database of potential candidates for senior leadership positions, create new profiles, and conduct due diligence checks using open sources. Information contained in this database must be treated with the utmost level of confidentiality

🗂️ Support database clean-up and reviews of profiles for selection processes as required

🌍 Prepare mission and country profiles with background documentation and mapping of key stakeholders in support of high-level recruitment processes

🎨 Support outreach initiatives by assisting with the preparation of meeting documents, as well as promotional materials that require basic graphic design skills, using Canva and Adobe products

📰 Monitor and provide weekly reports on global leadership news within the UN, regional organizations and Member States

📊 Collect data on leadership trends in the field and support the preparation of internal progress and data reports using Excel, PowerPoint and Canva, among other applications

🎧 Attend webinars and other information sessions within the United Nations at the request of the Supervisor or Section Chief and produce short summaries

🤝 Provide support to other ongoing projects administered by the Section upon request, such as leadership support initiatives, the strengthening of assessment processes, onboarding processes, and end-of-assignment processes

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Who Can Apply

Applicants must meet one of the following requirements: be enrolled in, or have completed, a graduate school programme (a second university degree or equivalent, or higher); or be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (a bachelor's degree or equivalent). A demonstrated interest in the work of the United Nations, most specifically in the peace and security field, and a personal commitment to the principles of the United Nations Charter, are required. You should have a demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals from different genders, cultural backgrounds and beliefs, including a willingness to understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views. Knowledge of standard software applications, especially MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and MS Teams, is required. Knowledge of data management using Power BI or other software, such as Salesforce or other CRM software, to collate and present data effectively is desired, as well as knowledge of graphic and visual editing software such as Canva. The ability to draft news articles and social media posts is required, and the ability to design surveys and polls is desired. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Applicants who have already served a total of six months as a UN intern, or who are close relatives of an active UN staff member, are not eligible.

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The Details

📆 Duration: 3 months, with a possibility of extension for an additional 3 months

📅 Start date: 25 September 2026, or sooner

🕘 Schedule: unpaid and full-time, 35 hours per week, on United Nations premises; it is designed to be in person but may be adjusted to remote work, with preference given to in-person availability

📍 Location: New York, United States

🌐 Language: fluency in spoken and written English is required; knowledge of an additional official UN language is an advantage

Funding

This internship is unpaid. Costs and arrangements for travel, visas, accommodation and living expenses are the responsibility of interns or their sponsoring institutions. Interns who are not citizens or permanent residents of the country where the internship is undertaken may be required to obtain the appropriate visa and work authorization.

How to Apply

Submit a complete online application. In your Motivational Statement, indicate when you would like to start, and include the title of the degree you are pursuing, your graduation date, an explanation of why you are the best candidate for this specific internship, and your interest in the United Nations Internship Programme. In your Personal History Profile, include all past work experiences, IT skills, and three references.