Intern Foresight and Futures Work

Location: Nairobi, Kenya (Remote)
Hiring Unit: Strategic Planning Branch, Programme Division
Full/Part-time: Full-time
Duration: September 2026, for an initial period of three months, with the possibility of extension.

                   
About the Position

Under the overall supervision of the Foresight and Development Results Adviser and in close collaboration with the Foresight Analyst, the intern will support the institutionalization of upcoming foresight initiatives and interventions across UNFPA.

Strategic Foresight is a corporate priority under the UNFPA Strategic Plan 2026–2029, reflecting the organization's commitment to strengthening anticipatory governance, adaptive programming, and long-term decision-making in an increasingly complex and uncertain global environment. 

UNFPA Headquarters is supporting a growing number of Country Offices and United Nations Country Teams (UNCTs) in conducting Futures Trend Analysis (FTA) and other strategic foresight exercises to inform country programme design, strategic planning, policy development, and organizational transformation. The increasing demand for technical support, analytical products, capacity development, and knowledge management has created a need for additional support to advance and scale this work across the organization. This work is supported by AI-assisted tools for horizon scanning, signal classification and clustering, developed in-house and applied under human review at every stage of analysis.

Within this context, the intern will contribute to the implementation of UNFPA's corporate foresight agenda by supporting Futures Trend Analysis (FTA), the integration of foresight into Country Programme development processes, UNCT foresight initiatives, foresight knowledge management, and the development of practical tools, guidance, and learning resources. The intern will also support research, horizon scanning, trend analysis, stakeholder engagement, and the documentation of emerging practices to strengthen institutional foresight capacity across UNFPA.

The internship provides a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience in applying strategic foresight within an international development organization while working closely with Headquarters, Regional Offices, Country Offices, and United Nations partners. The intern will be exposed to innovative methodologies for anticipatory governance, scenario thinking, systems analysis, and adaptive planning in support of the implementation of the UNFPA Strategic Plan 2026–2029.

Tasks and Responsibilities

The intern will support the implementation of UNFPA's corporate strategic foresight agenda by undertaking the following responsibilities:
- Support the design and implementation of Futures Trend Analysis (FTA) exercises for selected UNFPA Country Offices to inform Country Programme Documents (CPDs), strategic planning, and adaptive programming.
- Support the design, coordination, and facilitation of UNFPA-led United Nations Country Team (UNCT) strategic foresight exercises in collaboration with Resident Coordinators' Offices, UN agencies, and other development partners.
- Contribute to the operationalization and delivery of strategic foresight training programmes for UNFPA Headquarters, Regional Offices, and Country Offices, including the preparation of training materials, exercises, and participant resources.
- Assist in planning and delivering global webinars, workshops, Communities of Practice, and other knowledge-sharing events to strengthen foresight capabilities across the organization.
- Support the development and continuous improvement of foresight guidance, learning materials, toolkits, training modules, and knowledge products to facilitate the institutionalization of foresight across UNFPA.
- Support knowledge management by documenting lessons learned, case studies, good practices, and analytical outputs from foresight initiatives to promote organizational learning and cross-country collaboration.
- Support the application and continued development of AI-assisted foresight tools, and support the development of evaluation criteria and test cases, and documenting tool performance to inform iterative improvement.

Qualifications and Experience

- Bachelor's or Master's degree (enrolled in the final year of study or graduated within the past 12 months) in Futures Studies, International Development, Public Policy, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, Demography, Development Studies, Data Science, International Relations or another relevant discipline.
- Demonstrated interest in strategic foresight, futures thinking, scenario planning, systems thinking or strategic planning.
- Strong research, analytical and writing skills.
- Experience conducting literature reviews and synthesizing complex information.
- Familiarity with qualitative research methods and data analysis is desirable.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills.
- Fluency in English is required; knowledge of another UN language is an asset.
- Strong organizational skills with attention to detail.
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively in multicultural and multidisciplinary teams.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications; experience with AI tools; experience with visualization or collaboration tools is an advantage.

Learning Elements

Upon completion of the internship, the intern should have:
- Increased understanding of the work of UNFPA and the implementation of the Strategic Plan (2026–2029).
- Practical experience applying strategic foresight methodologies within an international development organization.
- Improved knowledge of horizon scanning, trend analysis, weak signal identification, scenario development and futures methodologies.
- Enhanced understanding of demographic change and its implications for sustainable development.
- Experience supporting United Nations Country Team foresight exercises and strategic planning processes.
- Increased knowledge of integrating foresight into country programme design and adaptive management.
- Strengthened research, analytical, facilitation and communication skills.
- Experience working in a multicultural and multidisciplinary team across headquarters, regional and country offices.
- Improved understanding of innovation, anticipatory governance and organizational learning within the United Nations system.
- Practical experience applying and evaluating AI-assisted methods in foresight, including prompt design, signal classification, and human-in-the-loop verification.

Financial Aspects

Interns do not receive a salary or any other form of remuneration from UNFPA. The costs associated with participation in the internship programme must be assumed either by the nominating institution or by the intern. UNFPA provides a stipend to help cover basic daily expenses where the intern is not financially supported by another institution or scholarship programme. The amount of the stipend varies according to the duty station and internship modality.

Interns must have valid medical insurance for the duration of the internship. Proof of insurance must be submitted before the internship begins. UNFPA does not provide medical insurance for interns.

How to Apply
Please submit your resume (CV) and cover letter in a single PDF to whe@unfpa.org with the subject line: "Application for Foresight Intern"
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Due to the high volume of applications received, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.