UN Volunteers Regional Office for the Arab States

BA PPE, Third Year Undergraduate, Remote working

Work Projects

I worked with the Communications and Outreach Team of the Regional Office. It was a very unique experience, as the internship overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic and the humanitarian experience in Beirut. My primary responsibilities were drafting web stories highlighting UN volunteers' work across the MENA region, as well as providing communications support for the 2020 Global Technical Meeting.

Daily Life

The internship was fully remote this year because of COVID. Because I returned to the US, there was a 7-hour time difference between myself and the Regional Office. Despite that, the internship was very flexible-aside from weekly 5 AM team meetings.

Lasting Impressions

I very much enjoyed the experience. It was a great learning opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the UN system and to explore various aspects of UN Volunteers' work. The experience reaffirmed my desire to go into humanitarian work and international development. I would absolutely recommend this internship to anyone who is interested.

BA PPE, FinalYear Undergraduate, Remote working

Work Projects

I worked for six weeks with team members from the Regional Office, remotely, to support them in their efforts to promote volunteerism as a means of achieving sustainable development. My key achievements included supporting the team with the administration of a conference breakout session focused on volunteerism in the Arab States region and compiling a report on this session for distribution to key volunteer stakeholders in the region. Throughout the

internship, I was supported in regular Zoom meetings with both my supervisor, the head of the Regional Office, and other members of the team.

Daily Life

Given that the internship was based around Jordan time (UK+2 hours), my daily schedule allowed me to vary my routine, with a finish earlier in the afternoon than if I had been working in person. This allowed me to go out and enjoy the UK summer in a greater variety of ways!

Lasting Impressions

It was fascinating to gain an insight on working within the UN system, especially from the perspective of a cross-cutting agency like UNV. Given that they work with so many different parts of the UN system, I was able to gain an appreciation of a variety of aspects of the work of UN agencies. It was also very interesting to be involved with the 2020 Global Technical Meeting on Reimagining Volunteering, to see the interaction of many international volunteer stakeholders.