Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)
H (no hardship)Family Type (not applicable for home-based)
FamilyStaff Member / Affiliate Type
InternshipTarget Start Date
2025-10-01Deadline for Applications
August 7, 2025Terms of Reference
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is offering a full-time internship with the Statistics, Data Science, and Survey Section of the Global Data Service (GDS) in Copenhagen, Denmark. UNHCR is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for asylum seekers, refugees, returnees, internally displaced communities and stateless people.Access to reliable, timely, relevant and accurate data on these populations is essential to enhance their protection and support the achievement of durable solutions. The Statistics, Data Science, and Survey Section develops statistical definitions and standards and oversees the production of global statistics on refugees and other populations of concern to UNHCR. The Agency’s Data Transformation Strategy 2020-2025 aims to position UNHCR as a trusted leader on data and information related to refugees and other populations of concern.
The internship is based in Copenhagen with GDS’ Statistics, Data Science, and Survey Section (SDSS). The intern will join the Secretariat of the Expert Group on Refugee, IDP and Statelessness Statistics (EGRISS), work under the direct supervision of the Head of the Secretariat and in close collaboration with other secretariat colleagues and units within SDSS.
Title: Statistics Project Intern (EGRISS Monitoring and Coordination)
Duty Station: Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: 6 months (with possible 2-month extension)
Contract Type: Internship
Start date: 01 October 2025
Organizational context
Increasingly, UNHCR’s data efforts rely on joint engagements with partners to better achieve outcomes for those affected by forced displacement. As part of these efforts, UNHCR has taken a leading role in the Expert Group on Refugee, IDP and Statelessness Statistics (EGRISS), both as a Steering Committee member and through hosting its Secretariat. The EGRISS currently consists of 61 countries and 38 international and regional organisations.
The EGRISS was established in 2016 by the UN Statistical Commission to develop recommendations on refugee and IDP statistics and produce guidance for their implementation at country level. The International Recommendations on Refugee (IRRS) and IDP (IRIS) Statistics were endorsed in 2018 and 2020, respectively, and implementation work is ongoing through advocacy, capacity building, and further methodological development. Most recently, the International Recommendations on Statelessness Statistics (IROSS) have been endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in 2023. All three sets of recommendations aim to contribute to the improvement of official statistics on the identified populations produced through the national statistical systems of affected countries.
A central focus of EGRISS’ third mandate (2020-2025) concerns capacity development which is pursued through regional engagement, technical support, guidance provision and online learning. The Secretariat also invests in monitoring the application of the international statistical recommendations by countries and institutions alike to feed into annual reporting processes. During the period 2020-2024, over 253 concrete examples of implementation have been identified. In 2023, the EGRISS Secretariat has revised its implementation monitoring system, launching it as Global Annual Inclusion (GAIN) survey improving the quality of the data it collects, and the insights that can be drawn from analysis of collected data. In following years, Secretariat has conducted annual evaluations of GAIN survey, to further improve scope and coverage of monitoring progress made by countries and international organizations to pursue statistical inclusion of refugees, IDPs and stateless persons. Implementation of identified improvements in GAIN 2025 round, will enable more precise identification of best practices, upcoming activities, enhance knowledge dissemination, inform peer-to peer learning and future improvements of the recommendations.
The position
We are seeking an intern to assist the EGRISS Secretariat in a range of activities with a focus on in the revision and implementation of the EGRISS GAIN survey and management of the associated monitoring database that tracks the application of international recommendations. As an intern, you will work closely with the EGRISS Secretariat staff and relevant EGRISS members to ensure the successful planning, execution, and reporting of the GAIN survey. The internship will provide you with hands-on experience in survey design, data collection, analysis, and reporting.
Duties and responsibilities
1. Support EGRISS monitoring & evaluation activities, including updates and implementation of EGRISS Global Annual Inclusion (GAIN) survey:
o Assist in the updates to GAIN survey questionnaire, based on lessons learned from the evaluation process, questionnaire translation in survey languages, update of survey protocols, including a pilot test for 2025 round of the survey
o Help implement survey schedule and logistics plan
o Assist in identification of additional focal points from national statistical systems to enhance the scope of GAIN 2025 survey and obtain necessary permissions and clearances to include them in the 2025 data collection
o Participate in pre-survey briefings with institutional respondents (e.g., regional EGRISS partners, national and global institutions with large number of examples) for coordinating dissemination
o Help conduct the GAIN 2025 survey as per the updated and approved methodology and protocols
o Assist respondents with any additional information during data collection to ensure adherence to protocols
o Support follow up interviews with selected respondents to complete GAIN survey dataset
o Help compile and organize the collected data
o Assist in cleaning and validating the data to ensure accuracy and completeness
o Assist in analysing the data using appropriate statistical techniques
o Help prepare GAIN survey results based on identified tables needed for EGRISS annual and supplemental reporting, workplans of technical sub-working groups, regional engagement and other dissemination efforts
o Help update other dissemination tools, like GAIN survey dashboards and infographics.
o Assist in disseminating the report to stakeholders
o Document lessons learned and best practices through 2026 round of GAIN survey evaluation
o Assist in preparing an annual archive of implemented documents, datasets, and reports
o Other duties as assigned
2. Support the implementation of other EGRISS activities possibly including:
o Annual Report, including development of case studies.
o Research, analysis or editorial work related to ongoing methodological papers on topics such as identification questions for household surveys or measuring progress towards durable solutions for IDPs.
3. Support organization and coordination of meetings, documentation of decisions and actions agreed and necessary logistical arrangements.
4. Support the effective implementation of EGRISS Secretariat’s responsibilities.
Minimum qualifications required
In order to be considered for an internship, candidates must meet the following eligibility criteria:
• Be either a recent graduate (having completed their studies within two years of
applying) or a current student in a graduate/undergraduate school programme from a university or higher education facility accredited by IAU/UNESCO1; and
• Have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies in a field relevant or of interest to the work of UNHCR.
• not have exhausted the maximum cumulative internship period with UNHCR, including any prior internships (8 months for full-time and 12 months for part-time)
NOTE: An individual who bears the relationship of parent, child or sibling or step-parent, step-child or step-sibling to a current UNHCR staff member or affiliate is not eligible for an internship.
Required Experience and Competencies
• Fluency in English language
• The intern has displayed an interest in and comprehension of official statistics (and/or operational data) from a variety of sources, such as surveys, administrative data, census data, operational data, big data, and other types of data.
• Strong attention to detail and excellent organizational skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Interest to pursue career in humanitarian/development action, forced displacement, migration or related field.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
• Experience with statistical software (e.g., SPSS, Stata, R, Pyhton)
• Experience with data visualization software (e.g., PowerBI, Tableau)
• Ability to work independently and in a team setting
• Ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines
Desirable qualifications and skills
• Have completed university degree (BA) of undergraduate studies in a field relevant or of interest to the work of EGRISS, in Statistics, Demography, Public Policy, Economics, International Relations, Social Science or any other related field
• Knowledge of survey methodology and data analysis techniques is a plus
• Knowledge of another UN language such as French, Spanish, Russian or Arabic is an asset
Conditions
It is a full-time role with working hours starting from 8.30am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday (40 hours per week). The successful candidate will be assigned to support the team in Copenhagen and must be available to work full-time for the duration of the internship.
Allowance: Interns who do not receive financial support from an outside party will receive an allowance to partially help to cover the cost of food, local transportation and living expenses.
Travel: Unless provided or paid by external sponsoring entities, UNHCR reimburse interns engaged from a location outside of the country of the duty station for the ticket costs of their outward and return travel to/from the duty station by the most economical route available on economy class, irrespective of the duration of the journey. Reimbursement shall be limited to the authorized outward and return travel between the intern’s country of residence and the intern’s duty station, or actual route of travel, whichever is lower.
How to apply
Interested applicants should submit their application through www.unhcr.org/careers.html
Obligations
Acquiring and renewing current visas, residence permits including all associated costs, obtaining medical certification and compliance with taxation requirements (if applicable), are the responsibility of the intern. However, the office can assist interns with the initiation of the visa process.
The selected candidate will need to provide UNHCR with a proof of health insurance coverage applicable to the assigned internship location and a certificate of good health from a qualified medical practitioner certifying their fitness for work and travel. In the event the selected candidate is not able to produce the required certificates, they will not be admitted to the Internship Programme.
If you are a person with a disability and you expect you may face challenges during the recruitment process, you can indicate it in your application form.
There are options to select any health conditions you may have and outline any necessary adjustments related to disabilities during the recruitment phases. Providing this information is optional. It will be treated as strictly confidential and used only for the purpose of finding out how to better assist you during the recruitment process.
Adjustments for candidates with disabilities will be provided as best as possible and as needed upon request.
All candidates will be assessed based on meeting the requirements for each vacancy in relation to experience, skills, and education.
The UNHCR workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages and opinions. UNHCR seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates without distinction on grounds of race, color, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, travelling, processing or training.
We welcome applications from candidates with a refugee or stateless background.
In the education section of the application, please make sure that your school is selected from the list of accredited higher education institutions when creating a profile in UNHCR Recruitment Portal - Workday. To do this, click on the magnifying glass next to Select School, then select Contains next to Description, type in the name of the school, click Look up and finally click on the result.
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