Coursera is a learning platform that gives access to more than 10,000 online learning courses, specializations, and professional certifications from more than 350+ leading universities and companies globally.
The Office of Human Resources has partnered with Coursera to offer a limited amount of annual licenses for UN Secretariat staff members to take as many courses as they like. Coursera allows you to take the next step toward your personal career and personal goals with in-depth content on areas as diverse as data science, leadership, web and graphic design, mental health and wellness, economics, mathematics, and culture, Coursera is capable of equipping you with tremendous upskilling opportunities from certified world-renowned institutions, all offered to be completed at your own pace.
The Office of Human Resources is only able to offer a few hundred licenses per year. As such, not all those who apply to Coursera are able to have the opportunity to use it, and licenses are distributed on a first come, first serve basis:
- Go to the Coursera application form and fill it with your information.
- You will not receive a confirmation that your application was successfully received. You will instead be automatically placed in a waitlist.
- If your number in the waitlist is reached, you will receive an invitation to join Coursera. The license turnover takes place on the first calendar week of each month. Use the link in the email to join Coursera.
- Enroll in as many courses and certifications as you like, and start learning!
Coursera licenses are valid for the calendar year you receive it, and will not automatically renew the following year.
Due to the very limited supply of Coursera licenses, there is an activity clause. Learners must stay active in order for their licenses not to be re-assigned to someone else. One month of inactivity will result in a warning. Two months of inactivity will result in your license being revoked. Learners who had their license revoked will not be re-invited in the same year.
If you find yourself busy or incapable of using Coursera, please write to learning@un.org and we will re-assign your license and re-invite you once you are ready to continue with your learning.
Yes, you can carry your learning over to your new license. If you are using the same email address, you can simply enroll to any courses left in-progress and you will automatically be able to continue from where you left off. If you had an account under a different email address, you can contact Coursera Support to have them merge your accounts under your UN email address.
View the full Coursera library here. Almost the entire Coursera catalogue is available to you, except for full degrees. Recommended courses aligned with the UN 2025 learning priorities can be in this page.