31 March 2023
Fantastic news from New York! At its March session, the General Assembly Fifth Committee – also known as the U.N.’s budget committee – just agreed on a resolution on Human Resources Management (HRM). The first since 2018.
What makes this resolution special is that it also contains a set of paragraphs that request the Secretariat to come up with proposals to provide stipends for interns.
So, what happens next?
The proposals will have to be presented to the U.N.’s budget committee again at its March session in 2025. Only then, will Member States be able to make a final decision on paying interns.
The good thing: There are already good practices of paid internships in the U.N. system, from which the Secretariat could draw in its proposals.
For us at the Fair Internship Initiative, this is exactly what we have been advocating for ever since we started in 2015. And we couldn’t be happier.
Rest assured: This is not the end yet. A lot of work needs to be done to make sure that U.N. Secretariat internships are truly fair and accessible.
But it’s an important first step.
Watch the 28th Fifth Committee Session here
Find the Fifth Committee draft resolution L.31, which was adopted on 31 March 2023, here.
fairinternshipinitiative.wordpress.com 