International Organization for Migration
Outline of the organisation
Established in 1951, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is the leading intergovernmental organisation in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. IOM has 169 Member States with a further 8 states holding observer status and has offices in over 100 countries. IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration by providing services and advice to governments and migrants. IOM is based in Geneva.
Positions available
IOM offers flexible internships that vary depending on the interests of both the intern and the IOM Country Office. Internships last from two to six months in duration (IOM preferences interns who can commit to at least six months), with a maximum duration of nine months.
Interns are given assignments and responsibility commensurate with their experience and they are referred to a supervisor/tutor, who is responsible for mentoring and coaching. They can be given short assignments either designed within on-going programmes or on an ad-hoc basis. During their assignment, interns also attend monthly briefings on the different services of the Organization and visit other Geneva-based international organisations.
Internships are unpaid. The majority of interns receive a monthly subsistence allowance, which is a monetary stipend to partially cover accommodation and living expenses. In exceptional cases, however, further funding may be available where IOM has an agreement with a university to provide internship assignments to its students as part of their coursework or where an intern can apply for funding through their university, government or other institution.
Requirements
Applicants must:
- be between 19 and 36 years of age;
- be a final-year undergraduate student or graduate student, within one year of graduation, or an individuals sponsored by a governmental/non-governmental institution and/or academic institution;
- have a working knowledge (both oral and written) of at least one of IOM’s official languages (English, French or Spanish)
- Further information is available here.
Visa and travel
It is the responsibility of interns or their sponsoring institution to arrange for travel to and from the duty station upon commencement and conclusion of the internship. All related travel expenses, including visas, will be paid by the intern or sponsoring institution. IOM does not cover the cost of travel or visas; however, the office can prepare a visa support letter to facilitate the acquisition of a visa.
Application process
For internships in IOM Country Offices, please send your application directly to the specific office in which you are interested in working. Contact details for the various IOM Country Offices can be found by selecting the relevant country on the "IOM Worldwide" box located on the below left-hand side of this page here.
For advertised internships at IOM Geneva (Headquarters), please visit here and click on the vacancy codes that start with “INT”, or contact interns@iom.int.