The ICJ regularly hosts internships and acknowledges their contribution.
Participation in such a programme offers interns the opportunity:
- to gain practical experience of human rights legal and advocacy work at the international level;
- to gain a better understanding of the ICJ’ goals and objectives and of how a Human Rights NGO is organised;
- to gain exposure to the practical functioning of the United Nations human rights bodies and mechanisms based in Geneva;
- to gain valuable experience of working in a professional office environment;
- to provide interns the possibility of working in a multicultural, multilingual and multiethnic environment;
- to build professional and personal relations with colleagues and counter-parts who will be able to provide long-term professional advice, encouragement and support; and
- to help interns in career development. For many the experience of an internship with the ICJ has established a life long commitment and career in the international human rights field.
Requirements
The ICJ hosts interns only where the internship is funded either by the ICJ or another organisation, or where the internship forms part of a course of study.
Interns, externs or trainees will be accepted:
- Where the ICJ itself advertises through an open recruitment process for a paid internship, that meets the legal requirements of the country in which the internship will be based.
- Where the internship is funded through a programme established by a university/ donor organisation / government scheme or equivalent, and meets the legal requirements of the country in which the intern will be based.
- Where the internship, even if not funded, forms part of a university or professional training scheme for which the intern receives academic credits in lieu of payment, and the ICJ has established an agreement with the relevant academic institution to host interns under the programme.
Applicants are expected to:
- be a postgraduate student or currently completing a postgraduate degree in law, political science, international relations or a related field. Priority will be given to graduates who have or are studying law, especially human rights or international law. Interns working for non-programme staff may be required to have studied another field related to their work at the ICJ;
- be highly dedicated to the legal protection and promotion of human rights;
- be well-organised, have strong research, analytical and drafting skills and able to work independently;
- be computer literate as well as familiar with Internet research;
- be highly motivated, able to work as part of a multicultural team and willing to apply themselves in a frequently pressurised environment; and
- have spoken and written fluency in English and desirably French and/or another foreign language.
Responsibilities
- The intern’s responsibilities will be based on the needs of the ICJ, on the candidate’s interests as well as on the requirements included in grant/fellowship applications, when applicable.
Posts and duration
The ICJ offers continuous openings for internships in all its programmes and projects and for both legal and non-legal positions. The number of available intern positions depends on the resources availability at the ICJ to accommodate the interns.
Internships may be on either a full time or a part time basis, for a maximum of 6 months.
Applications
Unsolicited applications can be addressed with a resume, cover letter and the names and contact details of at least two referees by email to recruitment@icj.org.
Please appreciate that due to the volume of applications, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.