Intern - Political Affairs

About the role

This unpaid internship supports the Leadership Support Section of the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. Working on the United Nations premises in New York, the intern will assist with senior leadership recruitment, outreach, and data management for UN field missions.

Key responsibilities

• Conduct online research to update and create confidential candidate profiles for senior leadership positions.
• Support database clean‑up, review profiles, and prepare mission and country background documents.
• Assist with outreach materials, including meeting documents and basic graphic design using Canva or Adobe tools.
• Monitor global leadership news and produce weekly reports for the Section.
• Collect and analyse leadership trend data, preparing internal reports with Excel, PowerPoint and Canva.
• Attend UN webinars or information sessions and draft concise summaries.
• Provide ad‑hoc support to other Section projects as required.

Required profile

• Strong research and analytical abilities with attention to confidentiality.
• Interest in political affairs, peacebuilding and UN leadership processes.
• Ability to work full‑time (35 hours/week) on‑site in New York, with flexibility for remote work if needed.
• Effective written communication for report writing and summary preparation.

Required skills

• Canva
• Adobe products
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft PowerPoint

What we offer

• Unpaid, full‑time internship (35 hours per week) at UN headquarters.
• Hands‑on experience with senior leadership recruitment and outreach.
• Professional development through exposure to UN field missions and high‑level stakeholders.
• Potential extension of up to three additional months.