Deadline for Applications
March 30, 2026
Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)
A (least hardship)
Family Type (not applicable for home-based)
Family
Staff Member / Affiliate Type
Internship
2026-05-04
1. Organizational Context
UNHCR is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights, and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people. Every year, millions of men, women, and children are forced to flee their homes to escape conflict, violence, and persecution.
The Regional Bureau for West and Central Africa (RBWCA), based in Dakar, oversees UNHCR operations in eight countries with an established presence: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mali, Niger, and Nigeria. The region is currently home to over 21.9 million forcibly displaced and stateless people, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, asylum-seekers, and returnees. Major concentrations are found in Chad, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and the DRC, where conflict, intercommunal violence, and human rights violations continue to drive new displacement.
The intern will support the Risk Management Team in the development and monitoring of the project risk register and related mitigation measures.
The ideal candidate will have strong analytical and communication skills, familiarity with standard financial rules, and excellent organizational abilities. They should be a dynamic and proactive team player with a strong interest in refugee issues and programme oversight, ready to contribute to an eight-month internship within UNHCR’s Risk Management Team.
2. Duties and Responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Snr Risk officer, the intern will support activities related to communications, partnerships, and programme regional coordination. Key responsibilities include:
1- Support to the Development and Monitoring of the Project Risk Register
• Contribute to the development and regular updating of the Mastercard Foundation Risk Register, in coordination with relevant units and operations.
• Assist in identifying key programmatic, operational, and financial risks and documenting mitigation measures.
• Support the monitoring and follow-up of risk mitigation actions and ensure that relevant information is consolidated and shared with the coordination team.
2- Programmatic support to the Refugee-Led Organization (RLO) Portfolio
• Assist with financial assessments and review of required partnership documentation in line with UNHCR procedures.
• Support with the elaborating programmatic guidance on the assessment of the RLOs/ CBOs .
3- Programmatic Support to RBWCA and Implementation Follow-up
• Support RBWCA in the overall follow-up of project implementation across the region.
• Assist in compiling programmatic updates and key information from country operations.
• Contribute to the preparation of presentations, briefing materials, and communication products for regional meetings and events.
3- Essential Minimum Qualifications and Professional Experience Required
• Be of Senegalese nationality, refugee status in Senegal or have the right to work in Senegal
• Be available to work full-time for the duration of the internship.
• Be a student in International Relations or Business Administration
• Have excellent communication skills with strong interpersonal skills as well as be comfortable with working in an international and multicultural environment,
• Be fluent in French and have good knowledge of English, with advanced writing and editing skills.
• Have good experience using the Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, Power BI).
• Analytical Thinking.
• Innovation and Creativity.
• Be highly organised and have good attention to detail.
• Be able to multi-task and to priorities workload.
• Be a flexible team-player.
• Experience in data collection, analysis and presenting data is an asset.
4- Eligibility:
In order to be considered for an internship, candidates must meet the following eligibility criteria:
• Be graduated or current student in a graduate/undergraduate school program from a university or higher education facility accredited by UNESCO.
• Have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies in a field relevant or of interest to work of the Organization.
• An individual whose father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister is a staff member of UNHCR, including a Temporary Appointment holder or a member of the Affiliate Workforce, is not eligible for an internship.
5- Location and Conditions :
The successful candidate will be based with the team in the Dakar, Senegal. The internship is a six-month full-time role with 40 working hours per week, from Monday to Friday.
Please note that the terms of internship, as defined by UNHCR practice, include the payment of a Food and Local Transportation Allowance (FLTA). In case the intern is sponsored by another source during the internship this will be deducted from the FLTA.
NB:
Applications from refugees are strongly encouraged.
Applications from women are strongly encouraged
Standard Job Description
Required Languages
,
,
Desired Languages
French
,
English
,
Additional Qualifications
Skills
Education
Certifications
Other information
N/AThe English version is considered original and authoritative, translation to other language(s) serve the purpose of advertisement of local positions where applicable but are not considered as official translationsN/AThis position doesn't require a functional clearance
Remote
No