The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning offers two types of internships
- General internship: this is the primary UIL internship initiative, the goal of which is to support and learn from UIL experts
- Sponsored traineeship programme: a highly focused programme with predefined objectives
Both internship programmes offer graduate students a unique opportunity to broaden their knowledge of lifelong learning. They are designed to enable participants to develop valuable insights into the work of UNESCO as a whole and find future work with international organizations active in the fields of adult and continuing education, literacy, and non-formal basic education.
As a UIL intern, you will discover more about:
- Implementing education and lifelong learning through local governments and the work of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities
- Recognition, validation and accreditation of informal and non-formal learning from a global perspective
- Adult learning and education, and the International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA)
- Literacy and foundational skills, including action research
- Effective literacy and numeracy practices from a global perspective
- Family literacy, including intergenerational approaches to literacy teaching and learning
- Community-based learning
- Library and information sciences
- Public relations and online publishing
- Publication and information management
In addition to discovering more about UIL’s mandate, programmes and main objectives, the internship programme also offers participants a chance to augment their academic knowledge with relevant work assignments that can help them prepare for their future career. Participants also enjoy a unique opportunity to work in a multicultural and research-oriented environment.
General Internship
The general internship caters to those who are interested in all aspects of lifelong learning. UIL is on the lookout for people who are willing to commit to one of its activities.
Eligibility requirements
To apply for a UIL general internship, the candidate should demonstrate the following:
Age
The applicant must be 20 years old or over.
Academic qualifications
To be considered for the UIL internship programme, applicants must be enrolled in a graduate or post-graduate degree programme in a university or equivalent institution at the time of application.
Applicants pursuing their studies in countries where higher education is not divided into undergraduate and graduate stages must have completed at least three years of full-time studies in a university or equivalent institution towards the completion of a degree at the time of application.
Language skills
Applicants must be proficient in written and spoken English (additional knowledge of French or Spanish is considered an asset).
Other skills and competencies
Applicants must be able to adapt to an international working environment and work effectively with people from different backgrounds.
They must have strong interpersonal and communication skills, and be able to work effectively in a team.
Duration
UIL accepts applications on a rolling basis. The duration of internships ranges from three months for voluntary internships to a maximum of six months for mandatory internships.
Financial aspects
UIL does not remunerate interns. There is no compensation, financial or otherwise, for internship. Arrangements and costs incurred for travel, visas, accommodation and living expenses are the responsibility of interns or their sponsoring institution(s).
Interns are responsible for making their visa arrangements as required. UIL may provide a letter confirming the intern’s assignment with the Institute on request.
UIL accepts no responsibility for the health insurance of the intern or for costs arising for accidents and illness incurred during a volunteer assignment. Interns are fully responsible for arranging, prior to the internship assignment and at their own expense, health insurance covering the period of assignment at UIL. Expenses in relation to health insurance will not be covered by UNESCO, and must be borne by the volunteer. UIL provides limited work-place insurance coverage against risk of injury, illness, permanent disability or accidental death incurred during the period of the intern assignment, and which may be attributable to the execution of the assignment.
How to apply
Candidates should apply for an internship at UIL through UNESCO StageWeb (http://stageweb.unesco.org), the online tool for the management of the internship programme. You will find all relevant information there. Applicants to internships must complete the application form on StageWeb, including their preferred dates of internship and area of work, and information on their current studies. Guidelines for completing the application can be found at: http://en.unesco.org/system/files/internship_userguide_en_0.pdf.
Application for internships must be submitted at least one month before the proposed starting date.
Polite notice
We ask you to appreciate that UIL cannot accept all internship applications. Selection depends primarily on matching applicants’ profiles and preferences with current activities and demands, but also on the available capacity. Please note that we do not respond to each and every candidate.
If selected, UIL will contact you directly. A short teleconference interview may be arranged to validate applicants’ competences and exchange information about the internship programme objectives and tasks.
For further information, please contact uil-internship@unesco.org.