Population Affairs Intern

Job Description

The Population Division was created in 1946 with the mandate of strengthening the capacity of the international community to address current and emerging population issues and to integrate population dimensions into the development agenda at the national and international levels.

Within the overall framework of the Department, the Population Division is responsible for analytical, normative and capacity-building activities in the field of population.

The Division provides substantive support to the Commission on Population and Development and to other intergovernmental bodies as appropriate.

The Division is engaged in the organization of technical meetings, and the preparation of technical documentation on a vast array of population subjects of interest to Member States.

The Population Division is organized in thematic sections and units focusing on various demographic aspects.

The Front Office, led by the Director and two Branch Chiefs, oversees three specialized Units (Programme Management; Publications, Outreach and Support; Population Data) and two branches: the Population Policies and Development Branch and the Population Trends and Analysis Branch.

The former comprises the Fertility and Population Ageing Section and the Migration and Urbanization Section, both of which analyze and assess policies and trends in their respective areas, and organize expert meetings.

The latter branch includes the Demographic Analysis Section, which develops demographic methods and analyses, and the Population Estimates and Projections Section, focusing on global population estimates and projections.

Lastly, the Demographic Data Systems Unit maintains the Division’s IT infrastructure, manages major databases, and supports data dissemination.

Each unit and section contributes specialized expertise, playing a vital role in the Division’s overall function.

Under the general guidance of the team manager within the respective section, the intern may provide support in the following areas:

• Assist in updating and assessing demographic data from a range of data sources (registration, census, survey).
• Become familiar with the analytical steps used to update country estimates and projections, including the various empirical datasets and databases used as input, and the application of various demographic methods and statistical models depending on context-specific situations in terms of data availability and reliability.
• Assist with data compilation, analysis (including application of direct and indirect methods), and desk research on either:
  (a) the population distributions by age and sex from census data for urban and rural areas based on national definitions,
  (b) international migration stocks and flows from various data sources,
  (c) the evaluation of the completeness of birth and death registration,
  (d) the evaluation of census enumerations based on post-enumeration surveys,
  (e) the estimation of population at risk of extreme weather events, and excess mortality based on climate and population gridded data,
  (f) the potential impact of climate change on future components of population change (fertility, mortality, international migrations) at the country level based on the results of a survey of experts, and in-depth country analysis.
• Assist in modelling robust annual time trends from 1950 to 2024 for either:
  (a) the completeness of the registration of vital events,
  (b) the annual bilateral international migrant flows,
  (c) the number of deaths attributable to extreme weather events based on various types of data sources and estimation methods,
  (d) the development of different demographic projection scenarios based on IPCC climate scenarios.
• Contribute to publications on various demographic aspects of interest to Member States, draft fact sheets and prepare talking points.
• Participate in the substantive servicing of intergovernmental and expert meetings on population and development.
• Contribute to activities related to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to the monitoring of progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Participate in relevant meetings and collaborate with experts within and outside the Organization.

The specific research topics and assignments will be defined based on discussion between the intern and the responsible officer and should be mutually beneficial for both the intern and UN.

The intern may also be asked to assist in the day-to-day work of the Division if required.

The intern is expected to familiarize him/herself, to a limited extent, with administrative work of the division and other tasks that are typical of UN organizations.

Upon completion of this internship, the intern will prepare a brief report and make a presentation to the Division on the experience gained, and any potential substantive research paper that this internship might lead to.

Qualifications/special skills

Applicants must meet one of the following requirements:

(a) be enrolled in, or have completed, a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);
(b) be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s degree or equivalent).

Applicants to the UN Internship Programme are not required to have professional work experience.

However, a field of study that is closely related to the type of internship that you are applying for is required.

For this internship, applicants should be pursuing their studies preferably in demography, population studies, human geography, public health, international relations, political science, development studies, quantitative history, digital humanities, applied statistics or related area.

Applicants must be a student in the final year of the first university degree (bachelor or equivalent), Master’s or Ph.D. Programme or equivalent, or have completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s or Ph.D. Programme.

Do you meet any of the above criteria? If yes, please indicate which one and attach proof to the application.

Please note that you will have to provide an official certificate at a later stage.

Applicants should be computer literate in standard software applications, especially MS Excel.

Proficiency with R statistical software programming is desirable.

Familiarity with population and vital statistics data and with demographic estimation methods is desirable.

Experience with scientific computing/statistical modelling is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat.
• Fluency in spoken and written English is required for the internship.
• Knowledge of an additional official UN language is an advantage.
• Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish are the official languages of the United Nations Secretariat

DEADLINE: AUGUST 17, 2025

About the Organization

The Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat is a vital interface between global policies in the economic, social and environmental spheres and national action. The Department works in three main interlinked areas: it compiles, generates and analyses a wide range of economic, social and environmental data and information on which Member States of the United Nations draw to review common problems and to take stock of policy options; it facilitates the negotiations of Member States in many intergovernmental bodies on joint courses of action to address ongoing or emerging global challenges; and it advises interested Governments on the ways and means of translating policy frameworks developed in United Nations conferences and summits into programmes at the country level and, through technical assistance, helps build national capacities.