The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) - Internships

Deadline: As soon as possible

Internships

International Organizations

Location(s)

  • Belgium
  • Switzerland
  • United States of America
Whlie the majority of internships take place in our Brussels Headquarters, we are open to remote working arrangements. Interns may work closely with staff located in the Brussels office or our team members located in North America or in Geneva.

Overview

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is an international membership organization working in the field of human rights, self-determination, indigenous issues, democracy and non-violence. UNPO represents 42 nations, minorities and indigenous peoples worldwide, and was established in 1991 at the Peace Palace in The Hague. UNPO’s worldwide activities are coordinated and implemented from the organization’s advocacy office in Brussels.

Details

Internships with the UNPO typically last between three and six months. Interns should either be current students who receive academic credit for the internship towards graduation, or current students or recent graduates who have outside funding for the internship (e.g. EU Erasmus funding, fellowship funding from US law schools or programmes, rotary scholars, etc.).

We are interested in candidates from a variety of academic disciplines, seeking only that interns show a true commitment to unrepresented and marginalized communities. We are open to designing an internship programme that fits well with whatever academic discipline the intern comes from.

Typically one intern will work with our Legal & Policy Team, the other with our Advocacy & Projects Team. 

The UNPO's Legal & Policy team helps set the direction of the UNPO. The team engages in a variety of functions in this regarding including conducting research and writing reports, policy papers and speeches in support of members of our advocacy team as they press for policy changes before key national and international actors, investigating human rights violations and drafting complaints or submissions to international fora, organzing meetings of the UNPO members or partners to better understand broad systemic issues impacting our member peoples, and helping develop our policy-driven communications in response to emerging developments.

The UNPO's Advocacy & Projects team directly furthers the causes of UNPO member peoples through advocacy, capacity building and other activities aimed at empowering civil society groups from unrepresented communities to reach an international audience. This work includes direct advocacy activities before, for example, the United Nations and its human rights mechanims, as well as supporting civil society groups in their efforts, and delivering capacity building through the UNPO's Unrepresented Diplomats programme. The team delivers across a variety of donor-funded projects, meaning that its work also includes significant project management. 

Interns are engaged in all aspects of the work of the assigned team, supporting team members in carrying out their projects. In addition, at the beginning of the internship, one longer-term project will be developed with the intern, usually a dedicated research report, an advocacy initiative or a conference, that the intern will be tasked with through the term of the internship. 

To apply for an internship please send a cover letter, c.v., and writing sample (in English) to unpo@unpo.org. Please include "Internship" in the subject line of the email.

We typically receive very high volumes of applications for internships. As a result, we are unfortunately not able to give feedback to individual applicants except for those who have been interviewed for a placement.

ABOUT UNPO

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is an international membership-based organization established to empower the voices of unrepresented and marginalized peoples worldwide and to protect their fundamental human rights.

The peoples represented within the UNPO membership are all united by one shared condition: they are denied equal representation in the institutions of national or international governance. As a consequence, their opportunity to participate on the national or international stage is limited, and they struggle to fully realize their rights to civil and political participation and to control their economic, social and cultural development. In many cases, they are subject to the worst forms of violence and repression.

UNPO is a unique presence in the international arena in that it is built and primarily funded by its members. This gives it a strong connection to those suffering the consequences of the exclusion that the organization seeks to address. And it means that UNPO is able to address issues that often remain hidden because UNPO has the freedom to raise issues that others cannot due to political or funding constraints.

The organization consists of a General Assembly of members, which serves as a deliberative body for decisionmaking, solidarity and standard setting among unrepresented nations and peoples, and a number of Foundations established to provide secretariat services for the General Assembly and to improve the respect for the rights of unrepresented peoples everywhere through research, education and public campaigns.

Opportunity is About


Eligibility

Candidates should be from:


Description of Ideal Candidate

We are interested in candidates from a variety of academic disciplines, seeking only that interns show a true commitment to unrepresented and marginalized communities. We are open to designing an internship programme that fits well with whatever academic discipline the intern comes from.

Requirements:

Essential:

  • Genuine interest in and basic knowledge of minority rights, self-determination, indigenous issues and/or human rights.
  • Ability to work under limited supervision and take initiative under tight deadlines.
  • Ability to run short term, self-directed projects.
  • Excellent command of oral and written English.
  • Good knowledge of Microsoft Office.
  • Basic knowledge of social media. 

Desirable:

  • Familiarity with the functioning of the European institutions, of the United Nations Human Rights Council and of other relevant bodies.
  • Basic knowledge of website management or IT.
  • Experience in fundraising.
  • Working knowledge of one/several of these languages: French Russian Spanish/ Portuguese/ Turkish/ German
  • Being an English or French native speaker is an asset. 

Dates

Deadline: As soon as possible


Cost/funding for participants

Internships with the UNPO typically last between three and six months. Interns should either be current students who receive academic credit for the internship towards graduation, or current students or recent graduates who have outside funding for the internship (e.g. EU Erasmus funding, fellowship funding from US law schools or programmes, rotary scholars, etc.).

Whlie the majority of internships take place in our Brussels Headquarters, we are open to remote working arrangements. Interns may work closely with staff located in the Brussels office or our team members located in North America or in Geneva.

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