Each year, a group of Occidental seniors participate in The William and Elizabeth Kahane United Nations Program (Kahane UN Program) — the nation’s only full-time residential internship program available at the UN — through the Oxy at the UN program. 17 students are participating this year. Students take two Diplomacy and World Affairs (DWA) courses and have full-time internships at UN-related agencies or country missions.
According to Resident Assistant Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs and Faculty Director of the Kahane UN Program Cynthia Rothschild, students are placed in their internships according to their interests and skill sets. Rothschild said a new development since 2021 has been the ability to place students in non-governmental organizations (NGO).
Jacob Whitney* (senior), a DWA major, is interning with the Management, Reform and Finance (MRF) team for the United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations (UKMIS). Whitney said his internship has allowed him to be involved in a variety of events and negotiation processes. According to Whitney, he was surprised by the approachability of higher-up representatives in UKMIS.
“My supervisor and team lead have really gone out of their way to include me,” Whitney said. “I can not only learn all the facets of their work but also learn about and participate in the complicated negotiation process and diplomatic maneuvering that goes into negotiating the UN’s budget.”
DWA major Lauren Chin (senior) said she has high-involvement internships. Chin said she is interning with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN’s sexual reproductive health agency.
“I feel that we are treated just like normal employees of the institution that we work at, which is really incredible,” Chin said.
According to Rothschild, around 75% of the students’ work revolves around the UN General Assembly (UNGA), while the other quarter focuses on supporting ongoing work and programming. Rothschild said the students’ roles include following government negotiations and resolutions, and supporting campaigns or special event programming.
Whitney said High-Level Week 2024, a time when world leaders, foreign ministers and other UN personnel arrive for the start of the UNGA, has been his favorite experience so far. Whitney said that during High-Level Week, he got to go to an NGO event honoring Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama.
“There weren’t as many people there as I expected, and the venue was rather small,” Whitney said. “I spent a good deal of time talking with various Albanian diplomats and got a brief opportunity to meet [Prime Minister Edi Rama].”
Chin said she attended the opening ceremony for Summit of the Future and without expecting to, heard the UN Secretary General’s speech. She said she knows people who attended the same event as Hillary Clinton, and others who saw Meryl Streep speak about women’s rights in Afghanistan.
Nasratullah Elham (senior), a DWA major, is interning for the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC). According to Elham, the environment he is immersed is one of his favorite parts of the program.
“You are surrounded by people who have been in the [global policy] field for a very long time and have built immense subject matter expertise,” Elham said. “You are constantly learning new things and there is never a shortage of materials.”
According to Whitney, chance encounters with high-profile personnel can also occur in random contexts. Whitney said one of his friends at UKMIS ran into the Kenyan president at a café, and another saw the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in one of the UN cafeterias. Whitney said he crossed paths with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, on his way back from class.
Whitney said he got to see a speaker he didn’t expect, Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I wanted to see what the news would say about his speech and the room’s reaction and compare it to what I saw and heard in person,” Whitney said.
Rothschild said she teaches a human rights course focused on gender, sexuality and right-wing extremism. According to Rothschild, Project 2025 has been a topic of conversation in her course, and students’ classes and internships are informed by the current political context.
“We don’t necessarily build the course around current political context,” Rothschild said. “But you can’t talk about conflict and you can’t talk about human rights without addressing current situations.”
According to Whitney, he is looking forward to seeing the Security Council in person and the UK presiding over the Council in November.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how the nature of my work evolves. While most other committees wind down toward the very end of the year, [the Fifth Committee] only gets busier” Whitney said.
Chin said she is particularly interested in the UNFPA’s 16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence which will host leaders from the UN Women and UNFPA civil society organizations, covering topics such as femicide. Elham said he is looking forward to making more connections with people as the semester continues.
“Meeting Youth Delegates from around the world through some events and then going to karaoke bars later has been an interesting part of the internship so far,” Elham said.
Rothschild said Oxy at the UN is incredibly important for students to learn about the tools at their disposal for advocacy and social change.
“I really want folks to be able to see UN systems as places to go if they care about an issue in order to do serious advocacy,” Rothschild said. “I want them to see UN systems and working within UN systems as part of the toolbox, one of the tools in the toolbox for ultimately creating social change.”
Contact Ava Anderson at aanderson5@oxy.edu
*Jacob Whitney is a former Sports Editor for The Occidental
