Internship at the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat

An internship at the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat provides a good opportunity to gain experience in a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environment, as well as in the day-to-day functioning of an Multilateral Environmental Agreement (MEA) Secretariat.

The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat offers interships to qualified university graduates or students, enrolled in a tertiary course of study, interested in gaining experience in the areas of:

  • Biology;
  • Environmental and political sciences;
  • Law;
  • International studies; and
  • Any other area related to the work of the Secretariat.

Internship - Areas of Work

Interns are supervised by one of the Officers at the Secretariat, while supporting them with particular tasks. Some examples are:

  • Assistance with the preparations for the annual World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) campaign (e.g. research, drafting web copy, handling the related social media, developing outreach and audio-visual material) (http://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org);
  • Assistance with the preparation of AEWA publications and outreach materials;
  • Dealing with website content;
  • Assistance with preparations and servicing AEWA meetings or Workshops;
  • Research in preparation for reports, documents or publications;
  • General administrative duties in the day-to-day operations of the Secretariat.

Internship – Facts

Depending on places available, the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat offers internships for a period of 3 – 6 months, beginning at any time. The Secretariat is located at the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany.

Internships are not remunerated – all expenses must be covered by the intern or a sponsoring Government or institution. Written confirmation of enrolment in an appropriate health insurance scheme and in an university must be provided in advance.

Internship – Requirements and Application Procedure

Students should:

  • Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor’ s level or equivalent);
  • Be enrolled in a graduate school programme ( second  university degree or equivalent , or higher);
  • Have graduated with an university degree (as defined above)  and , if selected , must commence the internship within a one-year period of graduation in a field that is related to the work of the Secretariat;
  • The working language of the Secretariat is English; full ability to work in English (written and spoken) is required. Knowledge of further languages, e.g. French, Russian or Arabic is an asset:
  • Interns should also have standard computer skills (Microsoft Office);
  • Interns need to agree with the scope of tasks before the start of the internship.

Internships at the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat are advertised at the UN Careers Portal. Interested candidates can also found further information about internships at the UNEP website

For further information contact the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat at aewa.secretariat@unep-aewa.org.