Background

The United Nations Development Group (UNDG) unites the 32 UN funds, programmes, agencies, departments, and offices that play a role in development. Our common objective is to deliver more coherent, effective and efficient support to countries seeking to attain internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.
 
The UN Secretary-General created the UNDG and the Development Operations Coordination Office (DOCO) in 1997 to unite the UN system and improve the quality of its development assistance.
 
Under the leadership of the United Nations Development Group Chair, and with the guidance of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), the overall objective of the United Nations Development Operations Coordination Office (DOCO) is to support the strategic priorities of the UNDG, and related coordination goals, and to meet DOCO’s responsibilities under the Management and Accountability (M &A) system, in furtherance of the TCPR framework. DOCO supports the UNDG at all levels to better support national partners in meeting the MDGs/IADGs and other critical national development priorities, specifically, the UNDG and its Advisory Group at Headquarters, Regional UNDG Teams, and United Nations Resident Coordinators and United Nations country teams. In carrying out its responsibilities, DOCO works closely with other UN entities and stakeholders (including DPA, DPKO, DSS, WB, OCHA and the Policy Committee in case of crisis countries), and through various interagency mechanisms.
 
The Knowledge Management Unit sits within the Field Support Team (FST) which is DOCO’s field facing coordination support.
 
The main function of the Knowledge Management Unit is to support improved knowledge management around UN co-ordination issues including the development, implementation, updating and enhancement of knowledge management systems for use in DOCO and across the UNDG to gather, analyze, disseminate and communicate information, lessons learned and good practices on regional and country coordination and to build the capacity of UNDG,UNCTs and RCs to support the achievement of UNDG strategic priorities and M&A System objectives.
 
Under the guidance and general supervision of the Team Leader (Knowledge Management) in close collaboration with the Policy Specialist (M&E), the  intern will be  responsible for the management and maintenance of the Coordination Practice Network including the facilitation of e-discussions based upon the needs and demands of the members or DOCO focal points on key substantive issues. The CPN is a key tool for strengthening knowledge sharing and peer to peer learning between UN Country Teams as well as in strengthening communication between DOCO and the Field and as being a valuable resource to help collect evidence about the impact and challenges of co-ordination.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Responsibilities:  The internship will be tailored to the intern’s skills and interests to the extent possible.

I.     Facilitate a global community of practice of UN staff working on UN co-ordination issues (CPN).
  • Take care of the membership maintenance and oversight
  • Facilitate a global community of practice of UN staff working on UN co-ordination issues, prepare network products and services including; substantive research for consolidated replies to community queries; respond off-line to queries; drafting of community updates.
  • Facilitate e-discussions, engaging staff from UN country teams and across the UN system
  • Liaise with other practice network analysts to explore the opportunities of cross-posting queries and e-discussions
  • Update the CPN archives

II.     Draft and edit community products and reports.

  • Draft summaries of e-discussions and propose consolidated replies for the community
  • Drafts summaries of lessons learned and good practices from Country offices on the implementation of UNDG related initiatives (from CPN and from other sources).

III.     Other knowledge management and sharing

  • Other activities to support the work of the Knowledge Management, Monitoring and Evaluation team in DOCO as required.

Competencies

Core Competencies:
  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards
  • Advocates and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the UN
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism
  • Demonstrates and promotes the values of the UN in actions and decisions and acts in accordance with the standard of conduct for international civil servants
  • Shows willingness to work without bias with all persons regardless of gender, nationality, religion or culture
  • Contributes effectively to team-based activities, working collaboratively and sharing information openly; works effectively with colleagues inside the UN as well as its partners and other stakeholders to pursue common goals
  • Facilitates and encourages open communication in the team, communicating effectively.
  • Remains calm, composed and patient when facing conflict, manages conflict productively, focusing on mutually acceptable solutions
  • Takes initiative and seeks opportunities to initiate action
  • Actively produces and disseminates new knowledge; creates/contributes to mechanisms to collect and share knowledge
  • Actively seeks learning opportunities; demonstrates commitment to ongoing professional development
  • Proposes innovative ideas and new solutions to work
Functional Competencies:
  • Ability to contribute effectively in team-based setting, especially in the area of knowledge-sharing and learning
  • Ability to write clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences; speaks clearly and convincingly, demonstrating strong presentation and facilitation skills;
  • Good technical writing skills
  • Anticipates clients’ needs; demonstrates understanding of clients’ perspectives; solicits feedback on service provision and quality
  • Excellent skills in using standard software applications, particularly Word, Excel and Web based tools and applications.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Candidate must be currently enrolled in a relevant degree programme in an accredited graduate school (second university degree or higher) at the time of application and during the internship; or
  • Completed at least four years of relevant full-time studies at an accredited university or equivalent institution towards the completion of a degree, if pursuing their studies in countries where higher education is not divided into undergraduate and graduate stages;
  • Have not graduated prior to the beginning of the internship.

Experience

  • Previous work experience in the field of development cooperation and/or with an international organization is an advantage but not a requirement.

Language Requirements:

  • Excellent oral and written English language skills are required. Proficiency in another UN working language is desirable.

Applicants must submit the following required documents: