PAHO Internships

OBJECTIVE OF THE OFFICE/DEPARTMENT This is a requisition for employment at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) Contractual Agreement:

Non-Staff - Intern

August 1, 2026

December 31, 2026, 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Washington, D.C.

HRM Human Resources Management

Full time

INTRODUCTION
You are applying to the PAHO generic internship roster which is published twice a year and can be done in person or virtually. The roster will be made available to all PAHO offices from where direct contact will be made with suitable candidates only. In completing your profile, you will be able to choose up to 2 different work areas of interest.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is the specialized international health agency for the Americas. It works with countries throughout the region to improve and protect people’s health.

PAHO wears two institutional hats: it is the specialized health agency of the Inter-American System and also serves as Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO), the specialized health agency of the United Nations. PAHO offers internships in our country - and regional offices, as well as at headquarters.

The PAHO internship program has three objectives:
a) to provide a framework for assigning students from diverse academic backgrounds to PAHO programs, where educational experience can be enhanced through practical work assignments;
b) to expose students to the work of PAHO and
c) to provide PAHO programs with the assistance of students specializing in various fields. Most students are placed in health-related programs, although placements in other area of work like for example communication, external relations, finance or human resources are also possible.

Under the supervision of a technical expert in the respective area, interns are assigned a project based on agreed terms of references and in line with their skills set. These terms of references typically include some or all of the following responsibilities:

• review literature and conduct literature surveys
• undertake web research and data collection on specific subject area organize data and documents
• participate in the development of tools and guidelines
• assist in drafting, formatting and editing policy briefs, tool kits, guides/manuals, hand-outs, brochures and reports
• assist in organizing workshops, meetings, conferences, events
• participate in on-going departmental projects

Are in the final academic year of a bachelor’s degree or enrolled in a master’s or a doctoral program or have graduated within the last two years from a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral program.

Core competencies

• Team work
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural difference
• Communication

All interns should be able to demonstrate the following skills in line with the WHO core competencies:

• Communicating effectively orally and in writing
• Showing willingness to learn from mistakes
• Producing and delivering quality results
• Working collaboratively with team member

In addition, interns need to be familiar with commonly used computer programs, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Knowledge of specialized computer programs, for example, statistical software such as XLStat may be an advantage.

Depending on the area of interest, the below experience may be needed and/or would be an advantage.

• Experience in research and/or in drafting reports
• Experience in the subject area through academic work or research
• Field and/or developing country experience
• Experience with data analysis, statistical packages and interest in the…