UNDP Jobs - 55116- Internship, Social and Environmental Standards

Internship, Social and Environmental Standards

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Internship

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

15-Apr-15 (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

UNDP’s Social and Environmental Standards (SES) underpin our commitment to mainstream social and environmental sustainability in our Programmes and Projects to support sustainable development.

The objectives of the standards are to:

Strengthen the social and environmental outcomes of Programmes and Projects;
Avoid adverse impacts to people and the environment;
Minimize, mitigate, and manage adverse impacts where avoidance is not possible;
Strengthen UNDP and partner capacities for managing social and environmental risks;
Ensure full and effective stakeholder engagement, including through a mechanism to respond to complaints from project-affected people.

A key mechanism to ensure these standards are applied is through UNDP’s project-level Social and Environmental Screening Procedure (SESP) which is a requirement for all proposed projects with a budget of $500,000 or more. The objectives of the SESP are to: (a) Integrate the SES Overarching Principles (human rights, gender equality and environmental sustainability); (b) Identify potential social and environmental risks and their significance; (c) Determine the Project's risk category (Low, Moderate, High); and (d) Determine the level of social and environmental assessment and management required to address potential risks and impacts. UNDP’s SES and SESP came into effect January 1, 2015. The challenge now is to ensure successful implementation and strengthened capacities of staff to apply the standards.

Scope of Work:

UNDP is seeking the support of an intern to provide support to the roll-out and implementation of the SES. Including knowledge management, communications, capacity development, and development of tools and guidance.

Duties and Responsibilities

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

Writing briefing notes;
Analyze and research global situations related to SES;
Support planning and arrangements for SES events and webinars;
Contribute to writing reports and publications;
Support activities related to outreach and partnership development;
Attend relevant meetings and events in the NYC area;
Assist in translation efforts as necessary;
Support updates to Teamworks and website;
Provide contributions to the development of guidance and tools related to the SES;
Support updates to the online toolkit, including elaboration of case studies;
Other duties as necessary.

Institutional Arrangement:

The intern will report to, seek approval/acceptance of outputs from the UNDP Social and Environmental Standards Policy Specialist of the Development Impact Group (DIG) within the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS).

Competencies

Strong oral and written communication skills in English;
Excellent organizational, time management and strong interpersonal skills;
Good team work skills;
Strategic thinking and analytical skills;
Tactful and responsible.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Current enrollment in a graduate degree programme (development, environment, international relations, political science, environmental studies, sociology, public or business administration, or other relevant disciplines).

Experience:

Ability to gather information quickly, and prepare in various written formats;
Focus or demonstrated interest in social and environmental sustainability issues.

Language:

Fluent in English.

Conditions:

Interns are considered gratis personnel. They are not staff members.

Interns are not financially remunerated by UNDP. The costs associated must be borne by the nominating institution, related institution or government, which may provide the required financial assistance to its students; or by the student, who will have to obtain financing for subsistence and make his or her own arrangements for travel, accommodation, visa, etc.