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UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture.., coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, shelter for every child, the right to protection

Scope
The overall mission of UNICEF is to play a leading role in advocating for the rights of children, to help benefit from quality, equitable and inclusive education, are healthy and protected, meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. In dealing with this fundamental issue, UNICEF Namibia works with the Government of the Republic of Namibia (GRN), civil society, media, tertiary education institutions, development partners, communities, children and young people and other UN agencies.

UNICEF Namibia country Office (CO) mainly works at both upstream and downstream levels, assisting the Government in policy and legislation development and implementation, capacity building, and planning to ensure that education benefits all children with emphasis on reaching the most vulnerable and marginalized communities as per approved UNICEF Namibia Country programme Document 2025-2029.

The Learning, Protection and Participation Programme is focused on providing universal, rights-based education to Namibian children. Early childhood development, health, safety and protection, school accessibility and inclusivity, adolescent participation, improved educational planning, and improved quality of service provisions and outcomes, are the main areas of work.

The candidate will work under the direct supervision of the Deputy Representative and guided by PME Manager, Communication and other relevant colleagues at UNICEF Namibia Office.

How can you make a difference? 

The purpose of the UNICEF internship programme is to provide a framework by which students and graduates pursuing or having recently completed tertiary education are assigned to UNICEF Offices to enhance their education experience through practical work assignments; to expose them to the work of UNICEF; and to provide UNICEF Offices with the assistance of qualified students or recent graduates specialized in various professional fields.

Main tasks and responsibilities
1. Support knowledge management efforts related to the wors supported by UNICEF Namibia Country Office (NCO).

• Support the monitoring of UN Convention of the Rights of the Child
• Support the production of knowledge products, including summary and content generation for use on internal and external platforms.
• Support the production of knowledge products and knowledge dissemination including through new and/or existing communities of practice.
• Support organization and delivery of virtual events, knowledge exchanges and meetings to disseminate and engage with the knowledge produced.
• Support dissemination of knowledge in other audio-visual formats as needed.
• Support management of internal databases of partners and resources as requested.

2. Support research, data collection and analysis for effective implementation of NCO work

• Data collection, compilation, transcribing and analysis from various sources as requested.
• Visualization of data and reviewing secondary data when required.
• Support the drafting of research reports, publications, policy briefs, and knowledge management products as relevant.
• Maintaining excellent documentation of the data in an organized data base as requested

3. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the NCO, contributing to learning objectives for the internship

Learning objectives for the internship in this area:

The intern will have an opportunity to contribute to UNICEF’s new and expanding work on especially its intersection with the Child Rights System.

The internship opportunity will provide a platform to interact with the UNICEF NCO and relevant young professionals, offering insights on how NCO work advances child rights agenda.

The intern will have an opportunity to have bilateral coaching session with supervisor if needed.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Eligibility & Minimum requirements:

[Include the vacancy requirements aligned to the category and level of the position. You can see examples in the branded VA example.]

• Education:  To be considered for the internship, applicants should meet the following requirements:

• A recent or current graduate in economics, international relations, public policy, statistics, finance, international development, education, public health, communication, social science, social welfare, liberal arts, or related areas.
• Have no immediate relatives (e.g. father, mother, brother, sister) working in any UNICEF Office; and have no other relatives in the line of authority which the intern will report to.
• Must be between the ages of 18-35 years.
• Work Experience: Experience in drafting research brief, article would be an asset (please attach recent written samples)
• Skills: Excellent interpersonal, writing, communication and analytical skills. 
• Language Requirements: Fluent in English.  Knowledge of a local language is an asset. 

Desirables:

• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts. 

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable marginalized communities are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if prior necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. 

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.