Internship - Business and Human Rights

The Governance, Rule of Law, and Peacebuilding Hub, a joint initiative of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) and the Crisis Bureau (CB), integrates work across governance, rule of law, and peacebuilding (GRP) to enhance UNDP’s global advocacy, resource mobilization, and support for principled, effective solutions. The Hub addresses accountable, inclusive, and effective governance, prevents and responds to crises, and enables peacebuilding and early recovery, while mitigating underlying risks. It operates through partnerships with the UN System, IFIs, donors, civil society, and the private sector, supporting country-level programming, global advocacy, and crisis response.

Organized around key thematic areas—governance of public goods and services, rule of law and security, human rights, business and peace, democratic institutions, peacebuilding, local action, and an open public sphere—the Hub ensures a cross-cutting focus on digital transformation, data for SDG16+, and gender equality. By combining knowledge management, resource mobilization, and integrated policy and programming, the Hub strengthens UNDP’s ability to anticipate, prevent, and respond to crises while advancing sustainable development and peace.

UNDP B+HR Initiative: The GRP’s programmatic work on business and human rights (BHR) is provided through the global B+HR Initiative currently implemented in 42 countries (and growing) in Africa, the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, focusing on supporting:

• Governments (across sectors): in upholding their duty to protect human rights from businesses’ abuses, including by strengthening and enforcing robust regulatory frameworks on BHR;
• Businesses (across industries): in embedding their responsibility to respect human rights throughout their operational policies and practices, including to carry out human rights due diligence across supply chains, through the B+HR Academy, which trains approximately 1,300 businesses per year;
• Civil society and other relevant stakeholders: in monitoring businesses’ human rights performance, advocating for advancing corporate respect for human rights, and providing ‘routes to remedy’ to people adversely affected by businesses.

The UNDP B+HR Initiative is coordinated from the Geneva Office (Switzerland) and led by the Global Policy Adviser on BHR, which supports and guides Regional B+HR Focal Points. Regional Focal Points are the entry point for requests of guidance coming from B+HR Focal Points at the CO level.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The internship will be with the Business, Human Rights and Peace Team. Under the overall supervision and guidance of the Global Adviser on Business and Human Rights in Geneva, and in collaboration with team members in the Geneva and New York and Regional Bureaux, the business and human rights intern is expected to support the B+HR initiative. Moreover, the intern will provide overall support to the Business, Human Rights and Peace Team and contribute to UNDP’s work and initiatives on business and human rights at the global and corporate level in line with the duties described below.

The thematic areas of interest include, but are not necessarily restricted to the following: 

• UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
• National Actions Plans on Business and Human Rights
• The right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment
• Human rights due diligence
• Modern slavery   
• Sustainable finance
• Support the organization of events geared towards sustaining the UNDP community of practice bringing together practitioners from UNDP’s Country Offices, regional and HQ offices;

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide overall support to the Business,  Human Rights and Peace Team, including participating in internal and external events and meetings, and following up on action points;
• Support the Team’s engagement in events, including the Global Forum on Business and Human Rights and regional fora on business and human rights;
• Support the Team’s engagement with key partners, including UN agencies, civil society, businesses and others. 
• Prepare drafts of relevant background documents for meetings (terms of reference, concept notes, briefings, reports, discussion papers, as relevant); 
• Help facilitate online practitioner engagements such as online dialogues, webinars, etc.
• Support reviewing internal guidance and policy papers;
• Support resource mobilization efforts with research, drafting and engagement with partners;
• Support the team with initiatives on business and human rights thematic issues including on the environment, finance, modern slavery, and others;
• Support the communication efforts of the team on social media and online contentl 
• Carry out all other related tasks assigned as agreed.

No travel is envisaged for this internship. The selected intern will be required to use his/her own laptops during the internship.

Competencies:

• Self-starter, organized, detail oriented;
• Able to balance multiple responsibilities;
• A demonstrated ability to synthesize information from multiple sources and produce concise content;
• Demonstrate/safeguard ethics and integrity;
• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
• Ability to take initiative and work independently with minimum supervision;
• Ability to adapt quickly to changing priorities and plan ahead;
• Ability to work effectively in a team and in an international environment.

Required Skills and Experience:

Education:

Applicants to the UNDP Internship programme must, at the time of application, meet one of the following requirements:

1. Be enrolled in a post graduate degree programme (master programme or higher) in international law, human rights law, political science, international relations, public administration, development studies, business administration, corporate sustainability, or related programme; or
2. Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (bachelor degree or equivalent), in above relevant field; or
3. Have recently graduated with a university degree, as defined in the above field and, if selected, the candidate must start the internship within one-year of graduation.

Experience:

• Familiarity with the UN system, and/or other international organisations, multilateral and other academic and international institutions working on business and human rights, human rights, sustainable development, corporate sustainability;
• Experience with web-based applications and websites is required;
• Experience of Microsoft Office tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).

Language:

• Fluency in English required;
• Knowledge of Arabic, French or Spanish is an asset.

Application Procedure:

• The application should contain a) brief Cover Letter (in English) stating interest in and qualifications for the post; and (b) current and complete CV in English.

Conditions of the Internship:

• Interns may be given a stipend according to the UNDP Internship Policies, if is not financially supported by any institution or programme, such as a university, government, foundation or scholarship programme;
• Interns are responsible for securing adequate medical insurance for the duration of the internship. UNDP accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness or death incurred during the internship;
• The intern is responsible for obtaining necessary visas and arranging travel to and from the duty station where the internship will be performed;
• In the current context, the intern is expected to partly work from home and partly from the office in Geneva;
• Interns are not eligible to apply for, or be appointed to, any post in UNDP during the period of the internship;
• Interns are not staff members and may not represent UNDP in any official capacity;
• The purpose of the Internship Programme is not to lead to further employment with UNDP but to complement an intern’s studies. Therefore, there should be no expectation of employment at the end of an internship;
• The intern will be evaluated at the end of the contract and due recognition of work will be issued in writing.

In case an applicant is successfully selected, s/he will be requested to provide electronic versions of the following documents upon selection:

• Copy of the applicant’s most recent resume or curriculum vitae;
• Letter from his/her university confirming current enrolment and graduation date;
• Letter of recommendation from a professor;
• Copy of his/her school transcript;
• Copy of passport;
• Completed UNDP internship application form;
• Signed UNDP Internship Agreement;
• Medical Certificate of Good Health;
• Proof of medical insurance.

Application process:

• In your application, please (i) state in one paragraph why you would like to be considered for the internship, and (ii) indicate your preferred start and end date, as well as your availability timeframe in 2024;
• Submit your CV/Resume.

Please combine the above into one single PDF document as the system only allows to upload one document.

Only applicants selected for an interview will be contacted.