UNHCR Internship Programme

Internships run for 2 to 6 months and are open to candidates who are recent graduates or currently enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate programme at a UNESCO-accredited institution, having completed at least two years of undergraduate study in a field relevant to UNHCR's mandate - law, international relations, social sciences, public health, communications, IT, and logistics are all commonly represented among posted vacancies.

Unlike some UN agencies where internships are entirely unpaid, UNHCR provides a monthly stipend intended to help interns cover food, accommodation, and local transport costs, alongside coverage of return travel costs to the duty station and visa support for the host country. This makes UNHCR's programme comparatively more accessible for students from countries where an unpaid placement abroad would otherwise be financially out of reach.

Because UNHCR's work directly involves refugee protection and crisis response, many field placements require flexibility, resilience, and sometimes exposure to challenging humanitarian contexts; HQ and Global Service Centre placements tend to be more policy, data, and operations-support focused. All internships are advertised and applied for through the UNHCR careers portal, where candidates search live openings and apply directly to the specific vacancy that matches their background.

There is no dedicated Pakistan-specific quota, but UNHCR maintains an active country operation in Pakistan (given its role in the Afghan refugee response), and internship vacancies at the Pakistan country office are occasionally posted alongside the agency's global listings, offering a regionally relevant option for Pakistani applicants interested in refugee protection work closer to home.