A big moment for young people and the UN alike: internship reform talks begin.
For young people around the world the events of these next few weeks are a source of hope and expectation. On the agenda for the first time, UN internship reform will be discussed by Member States at the 73rd Session of the General Assembly in New York. The UN is notorious for not paying its interns, yet soon things may change. How did it get to this? Well, this moment has been a long time coming.
These talks are the culmination of long-term external pressure and a short-term climate of reform taking place within the UN system. From the intern who lived in a tent to damning letters of condemnation, the contradictions and inconsistencies of the UN internship programme have long been in the public eye. While external forces have kept the issue in the limelight, pressure from the UN’s Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) — an independent oversight body mandated to conduct investigations — has led to breakthrough.
So, what will be discussed?
From November 15 to December 4, and among other issues, the JIU’s review of UN internships (JIU/REP/2018/1) will be directly discussed under agenda item 142 in the Fifth Committee, the General Assembly committee for HR matters. The report produced a series of recommendations and benchmarks. This includes the declassification of interns as “type I: gratis personnel” to enable the provision of basic labour rights afforded to UN staff: the assistance of UN Ombudsman and formal justice; mechanisms to assist interns in the event of discrimination, harassment, including sexual harassment, and abuse of authority; annual sick leave entitlements; and the provision of a stipend to enable equal participation and opportunities to young people from diverse geographic and socio-economic backgrounds.
The UN Secretary General has issued a note commenting on the proposed recommendations. While the organisations of the UN system welcome the JIU report, they underscore the importance of allowing organisations to retain the ability to design their own internship policies, effectively leaving the door ajar for those wishing to exit reform discussions. Fortunately, the outcome of reform depends on the positions held by Member States.
What are the chances of reform?
The Fair Internship Initiative (FII) — a cohort of interns and young professionals advocating for fairer UN internships since 2015 — has met with dozens of Member States in New York, Geneva, and Vienna. The FII finds widespread interest in the findings of the JIU report and significant appetite to improve the quality of internships throughout the UN system. Were a resolution to be tabled in the Fifth Committee, the FII would expect Member States to support it. However, it remains to be seen whether enough preparation has taken place for a resolution to be tabled this time round.
Although the expectation of support for a resolution sits awkwardly aside the UN’s comments on the JIU report, the FII finds that Member States really are concerned by the lack of consistency of internship standards across UN agencies. Indeed, great disparities already exist. While three funds and programmes (UNICEF, UNOPS, WFP) and six specialised agencies (IAEA, ILO, UNWTO, UPO, WIPO and most recently UNHCR) remunerate interns, organizations under the Secretariat do not. Others still, such as the FAO have put their internship programme reform on hold. The establishment of a basic central accountability framework to ensure coherence and fundamental standards is sought after.
Based on the FII’s meetings, no Member States have dismissed the need for reform, nor the precariousness of the situation in which many interns find themselves through classification as “type I: gratis personnel”. Often UN internship conditions do not meet the nationally-determined standards Member States offer their own interns. They worry about UN interns’ lack of access to the basic labour rights and protections, especially mechanisms to assist interns in the event of discrimination, harassment, including sexual harassment, and abuse of authority, and financial barriers to participation.
The price of reform and the cost of a no-change scenario
Reforms do not require Member States to increase their assessed contributions to the UN. The JIU report proposes approving the establishment of ad hoc multi-donor trust funds to pledge voluntary contributions and requests proposals for other innovative mechanisms. Its primary recommendation is to overcome the bureaucratic barrier of “type I: gratis personnel” classification. The exact financial innovation required is not yet set to be determined. So, Member States can rally behind this. Just look at the recent unanimously passed World Health Assembly resolution (A71/B/CONF./1) which commits to paying WHO interns by 2020 without the need for any additional contributions.
It is well known that inconsistencies exist within the internship programme vis-à-vis the UN’s values and aspirations. As it stands, the programme sits at odds with Article 8 of the UN Charter and Sustainable Development Goal 10 “Reducing Inequalities” as it obstructs equal participation and increases inequalities within and between Member States. While Member States are mindful of this, it remains unclear exactly how their Fifth Committee delegates will act and whether a resolution can be put forward at this year’s sitting. What is clear is that the UN’s approach is becoming increasingly untenable. As reliance on interns has increased — 38,116 interns (81 per cent unpaid) accepted by JIU participating organizations from 2009–17 (a 41.5 per cent increase from 2009 to 2015), coinciding with a decline of paid P1/P2 staff positions — so too does the issue become more visible.
At a time of wavering trust in multilateralism the UN’s credibility rests on its ability to live up to its values and standards. With inconsistencies glaring and pressure mounting, a no-change scenario would be damaging. A big moment for young people? Yes. Perhaps an even bigger moment for the UN itself. For a true “21st Century UN”, reform the internship programme to leave no-one behind.
Over to you Member States.
Written by Laurence Heijbroek, FII Member and former intern at UN OCHA.
