The Authority accepts interns on a limited basis, depending on the specific needs of the respective offices within the secretariat and their capacity to effectively support the institution under the United Nations-Nippon Foundation of Japan Fellowship Programme for Human Resources Development and Advancement of the Legal Order of the World’s Oceans, administered by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.
In 2014, owing to the increased, but welcome, interest in the internship programme, the Secretary-General formalized the internship programme by promulgating procedures to streamline and standardize the selection procedures.
The purpose of the internship programme is twofold:
(a) to provide a framework through which students and young government officials from diverse academic backgrounds gain exposure to the work and functions of the Authority, in order to enhance their educational experience and/or gain experience in the work of the Authority; and
(b) to enable the Authority to benefit from the assistance of qualified students and young government officials specialized in various skills within the scope of activities of the Authority.
The programme does not consist of clearly defined internship positions; rather, the Authority will define the number and nature of internships on a continuous basis, according to the needs of the various offices. The selection and recruitment procedure will, consequently, be on an ongoing basis and each intern will carry out his or her assignments under the supervision of a designated staff member of the Authority.
Interns are responsible, where appropriate, for obtaining the necessary visas and arranging their travel to and from Kingston, as well as accommodation and travel in Kingston. They are not financially remunerated by the Authority. Costs and arrangements for travel, visas, accommodation and living expenses are the responsibility of the interns or their sponsoring institutions. The Authority accepts no responsibility for the medical insurance of the intern or costs arising from injury, illness or death that may occur during an internship.
Applicants for internship must show proof of valid medical insurance coverage to cover the full period of the internship at the duty station and provide a medical certificate of good health prior to the commencement of the internship.
The Authority accepts no responsibility for loss or damage to personal effects that may occur during the internship. After the completion of the internship, the Authority will issue certificates to the interns. The Secretary-General would welcome proposals for funding of the internship programme to ensure that individuals from developing countries may benefit from these opportunities.
Application for Internship
The programme is open to students and young government officials specializing in fields relevant to the work of the ISA.
Student applicants to the ISA internship programme must at the time of application meet one of the following requirements:
- Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);
- Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor’s level or equivalent);
- Have graduated with a university degree (as defined in 3.2 (a) and (b) above) and, if selected, must commence the internship within a one-year period of graduation, as provided for in section 6.7 of the present Instruction.
- Young government officials must have a university degree.
All applicants to the ISA internship programme should meet the following requirements:
- Normally not be more than 35 years of age;
- Have a good command of one of the working languages of ISA (English and French); and
- Have an interest in law of the sea, international environmental law, deep sea mining, marine science or international institutions and organizations.
Full details of the ISA Internship Programme
ALL applications, nomination forms and any requests for further information should be emailed to training@isa.org.jm (link sends e-mail).
