Internship with United Nations Economic & Social Council for Asia Pacific (UNESCAP)

UN experience:
As a public policy student interested in Asia’s emerging economies, I wanted to spend my summer at an organisation that influenced policy-making in Asia-Pacific. I couldn’t have asked for a better platform than the United Nations ESCAP.

I was impressed at the level of collaboration at ESCAP. It felt like everyone who works at the UN Secretariat in Bangkok has a passion for being resourceful. Whether it’s helping interns understand more about the UN system or giving tips on getting around in Bangkok, everyone is ready to help in whatever way they can. If I needed any additional explanation on work or advice on different career tracks, I could always reach out to supervisors and senior colleagues from all departments.

Scope of work:
There was never a “typical day” at the Strategic Communications and Advocacy department that I was part of. Most days I’d come in and find different tasks, which taught me more and more about the way UN worked.

During my first month, I authored a feature story on climate change mitigation actions and solid waste management in Asia-Pacific for the ESCAP website, created social media posts for ESCAPs twitter and facebook pages, assisted in the development of a gender equality portal and attended the Asia-Pacific media focal points meeting. In August, I authored another feature story on trade financing for small and medium businesses in Asia-Pacific, wrote a piece about an e-learning initiative for UN staff portal iSeek, edited a press release and created more social media posts.

Support and Feedback:
In most internships, feedback happens when you finish a task. At UNESCAP, I sat down with my supervisor Katie Elles once or twice every week so she could understand whether I was enjoying the tasks assigned to me and provide guidance. Feedback sessions also took place between interns during work or over casual dinners.

I also had the opportunity to meet many talented people (UN staff as well as interns) from different departments and understand their perspective on socio-political and economic issues. Diversity at the UN Secretariat was amazing experience. I worked with UN staff from the United States, Australia and Thailand and hung out interns from Malaysia, China, Slovakia and Norway. Everyone had a good story to tell.

Professional Development:
The case-study approach at LKY School and courses I took on economic and social growth in Southeast Asian countries were really helpful during this internship. Organisations such UNESCAP are constantly looking for people who can compare and analyse developmental issues in this region. Writing a UN report on trade financing was very similar what I had done in class.

My advice to future ESCAP interns would be to set tangible goals for themselves before the internship starts. It could be anything -- improving your research skills or developing contacts within UN. Decide what you want to get out of this internship and focus on your growth.

I am grateful that I was able to absorb so much over the last two months, but I really can’t wait to see how I would take advantage of all the things I’ve learned during this internship.

Photos:

Staff at Strategic Communications and Advocacy department, UNESCAP, Bangkok. (I am on the second row, extreme left)


Interns and friends at UNESCAP, Bangkok. I’m the first one on right side. 


Clicked during lunch break