UNCDF Jobs - 46094- UNCDF Internship - Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA

UNCDF Internship - Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA)

Advertised on behalf of

UNCDF

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Internship

Starting Date :

09-Jun-2014

Application Deadline :

21-May-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

Intern

Duration of Initial Contract :

6 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

6 months

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s 48 least developed countries. It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to microfinance and investment capital. UNCDF focuses on Africa and the poorest countries of Asia, with a special commitment to countries emerging from conflict or crisis. It provides seed capital – grants and loans – and technical support to help microfinance institutions reach more poor households and small businesses, and local governments finance the capital investments – water systems, feeder roads, schools, irrigation schemes – that will improve poor peoples’ lives. UNCDF programmes help to empower women, and are designed to catalyze larger capital flows from the private sector, national governments and development partners, for maximum impact toward the Millennium Development Goals.

The Better Than Cash Alliance is an alliance of governments, private sector and development organizations committed to accelerating the shift from cash to electronic payments.
Billions of dollars in cash payments are made daily in emerging and developing economies, including payment of salaries, social welfare and relief, payments to suppliers, etc. The problems with these cash payments include a lack of transparency, accountability and security, as well as inefficiency. Furthermore, the individuals who receive the cash are excluded from the formal financial sector. There were approximately 2.5 billion people excluded from the formal financial sector in 2012.

Shifting these payments from cash to electronic has the potential to improve the livelihoods of low-income people by advancing financial inclusion and enabling people to save, while giving governments, the development community and the private sector a more efficient, transparent and often safer means of disbursing payments

The Better Than Cash Alliance seeks to leverage the leadership of governments, the networks of development organizations and the expertise of the private sector in payment technologies to replace the use of cash in their programming and payment streams with electronic payments, where appropriate. It also seeks to build the financial capability of low-income clients who will benefit from electronic payments and a wider range of financial services.

The Better Than Cash Alliance:

advocates for the use of all forms of electronic payments where they provide a preferable payment option to cash;
collaborates with program partners to mobilize available technical expertise and resources to identify and
implement the most effective approach to make the transition from cash to electronic payments; and
conducts research, documents good practices and produces knowledge products to address the barriers to
adoption and drive the effective shift from cash to electronic payments globally.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Better Than Cash Alliance is seeking:

Intern(s) to support BTCA’s three main areas of focus: Advocacy, Communication/ Knowledge Management, and the Technical Assistance Fund.

Advocacy – Support the identification of potential new members and the creation of approach strategies to promote the goals of the alliance. Attract new members, fulfill membership requirements, and grow global awareness the value of electronic payments.

Communication / Knowledge Management – Support the development of industry-leading workshops, toolkits and webinars to highlight key success cases, better practices, and to raise awareness of the purpose of the organization and the inherent value of electronic payments.

Technical Assistance Fund – Support identification of, and provide directed funding to, programs in country that are seeking to shift cash to electronic payments. Directly affect change on the ground by actually shifting cash to electronic.

In your cover letter identifying your experience, interest, and highlighting which area of focus you are most interested in supporting.

The key activities of the intern may include some of the following tasks :

Advocacy:

Create a comprehensive analysis of potential partners, across a wide range of industries, to identify target countries / companies / organizations;
Undertake research on payment value chains among actors, determine communication strategies, build briefing decks to support advocacy activities;
Support the coordination of meetings and general event organization for international conferences and high-level meetings.

Communication and Knowledge Management:

Overseeing the establishment and management of the social media strategy for the alliance (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc);
Contributing to the development of knowledge-sharing webinars, highlighting better practices and knowledge sharing at a global level;
Supporting the development of industry-leading toolkits that will be used by governments, major corporations, and leading NGOs to identify the benefits of shifting to electronic payments.

Technical Assistance Fund :

Identification and review of multinational grant applications, including revision, contracting and development of funding opportunities;
Support to in-country coordination activities, including agenda definition, participant identification, and document preparation;
Support to monitoring, evaluation and learning and reporting for internal and external stakeholders;
Support to programme team financial management.

Working Arrangements:

The intern will work full-time in the UNCDF office, or, in certain circumstances, will be allowed telecommute as agreed with the supervisor. In the office, work space will be provided, and the intern will be provided access to a computer. While telecommuting, the intern will be responsible for using his/her own computer. The intern will not be provided with a corporate email account.

Competencies

Strong communication skills;
Good organizational and analytical skills, ability to work under pressure with short deadlines;
Ability to work effectively in a team and in an international environment;
Excellent organizational, inter-personal, communication and administrative skills;
Able to take initiative and work independently;
Excellent research, and writing skills;
Respect for Diversity;
Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty;
Commitment to UNCDFs vision, mission, and strategic goals. Ability to work under minimum supervision and tight deadlines.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Enrolled in Masters programme in international policy or development, economics, finance, business or public administration.

Experience:

Demonstrated experience, part or full-time, paid or volunteer, in payments, microfinance, inclusive finance, or related fields of finance, development, research, advocacy, and policy development would be desirable;
Proven ability to manage diverse and complex tasks;
Excellent computer capabilities.

Language:

Strong writing and speaking abilities in English;
Proficiency in French or Spanish desirable.