David Hyde, 22, who had flown 11,000 miles from New Zealand to take
up an internship, said accommodation costs in the Swiss city were
unaffordable. Images of the
international relations graduate – standing
in an immaculate suit, UN badge around his neck, next to a small, blue
tent and rolled-up foam mattress – had circulated on social media.
Hyde, who had had been camping by the side of Lake Geneva near the
city’s botanical garden, received an outpouring of offers of
accommodation, according to the Tribune de Geneve, which broke the story.
But on Wednesday, Hyde – unshaven and wearing a rumpled shirt – stood
in the sun outside the gates to the UN’s European headquarters and said
he had decided to resign. “I’m announcing my resignation from the
United Nations internship programme,” he said.
“It’s my own decision and I chose to resign because I felt that it
would be too difficult to continue to focus on my work as an intern at
this stage,” said Hyde, who started his internship two weeks ago.
Hyde had told the Tribune de Geneve
about the excitement at home when he was accepted to the prestigious
position. But he said his family was unaware of his precarious situation
in the city, where rents are among the highest in the world.
“I just want to make it clear that no person forced me to sleep in a
tent, but rather my circumstances and the conditions for this internship
made it the only real possibility that I could see,” he told reporters
on Wednesday.
He acknowledged that he had not told the truth during his internship
interview when asked whether he would be able to support himself during
his stay. He said, however, that when he had previously answered that
question truthfully he had found all doors closed to him. “The UN was
clear about their intern policy from the start: no wage or stipend, no
transport help, no food allowance, no health assistance. I understood
this, and in that regard, I have to take responsibility for taking the
internship in the first place.”
He
added that knowing the policies did not make them right. “Call me young
and call me idealistic but I don’t think this is a fair system,” he
said, urging interns worldwide to “push for the recognition of our value
and the equal rights that we deserve”.
Hyde’s mother, who lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, told Stuff.co.nz
that the family was prepared to help her son but she doubted he would
accept the offer. “The family was only partly surprised to read of his
living situation,” Vicki Hyde said, adding that her son had “a strong
view on principles and how people should be treated”.
She said her son had recently spent a lot of time overseas, studying
political science in Paris and working in Kenya, and that sometimes he
was hard to contact.
Intern rights campaigners were appalled at the graduate’s situation. Tanya de Grunwald, founder of careers blog Graduate Fog,
said: “There is so much wrong with this story that it’s hard to know
where to start. He should never have resigned. Instead, the UN has a
responsibility to pay all its staff a fair and legal wage for the work
they do.”
She said it was the first time she had heard of applicants being
asked to assure an employer they could support themselves during an
internship, as a condition of being offered a role. “Frankly, I’m
appalled – and that the employer in question is the United Nations is
mind-boggling.”
She said candidates should never have to disclose their personal
financial situation as a condition of gaining employment somewhere,
adding: “It is more than unprofessional, it is completely unethical and
an appalling recruitment practice.”
Unpaid internships at the UN, some of which can last six months, are advertised publicly. Previous petitions have called for UN interns to receive a fair wage.
Ahmad Fawzi, a UN spokesman, told reporters during a weekly UN
briefing that a general assembly resolution barred the organisation from
paying interns. “We’re not allowed to even if we want to, and believe
me we want to. We would welcome a change to that resolution,” he said,
according to The Local.
The UN and its agencies in Geneva employ 162 interns annually. According to a survey conducted by the Geneva Interns Association, 68.5% were unpaid in 2013.
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