Background

The UN’s journey towards their own operational climate neutrality began officially on 5th June 2007 when UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon publicly called on all UN agencies, funds and programmes to ‘go green’ and become climate neutral. Driven initially by the UN initiative “Greening the Blue” (1), with an interest to promote climate neutrality within the UN, the focus was largely on addressing associated greenhouse gas emissions. However, the Sustainable UN facility in collaboration with sustainability focal points in about 60 UN entities and the HLCM procurement network has extended the focus area onto other critically important purchasing categories as well including the focus on resource depletion and eco- and human-toxicity in the procurement in the context of procurements for the health sector. 

Linkages between health sector procurement and the environment are still only partially understood despite the fact that the important role of procurements in influencing the environmental impact of health sector operations is well acknowledged. For example, studies show carbon emissions by national health systems and global health programmes are closely linked to procurements, especially with regards to pharmaceuticals and other health products throughout their life cycle including production, use and disposal (2)(3)(4).

The informal Interagency Task Team on Sustainable Procurement in the Health Sector (SPHS) was established in May 2012 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Ten SPHS members (UNDP, UNEP, UNFPA, UHNCR, UNICEF, UNOPS, WHO, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, UNITAID) conduct high volume procurement in the health sector, representing a sizable portion of some segments of the global pharmaceutical and other health products markets. The cumulative purchasing power of SPHS members in the global health aid market is about USD 5 billion annually. The aim for establishing the Task Team was to facilitate and coordinate the introduction of green procurement in the health sector among members and to leverage the standard-setting and joint procurement volumes of member agencies to influence the global health aid market (governments and other international development partners) and beyond. Thereby the SPHS Task Team intend to act as driver for transformational change towards greener health systems and inclusive green economies (5). 

To date, a series of 18 SPHS regular meetings involving 20+ participants were organized by the SPHS Secretariat. At these meetings, SPHS members’ agencies and partners discuss their activities on greening procurement in the global health aid market (6). A number of initiatives are already ongoing at the various member agencies and include: publication of environmental statements (as commitments to minimize the impact on the environment), development of business plans in order to implement practices such as safety and waste management practices, definition of green procurement practices guidelines, evaluation through impact statements, issuing of questionnaires to suppliers and manufacturers, drafting of supplier and manufacturer codes of conducts, environmental working groups, engagement with key stakeholders to identify sustainable procurement policies and practices, collaboration with other procurement units (7). In addition, the SPHS Task Team launched a website in June 2015, which is envisaged to serve as a knowledge hub and forum for sharing information and exchanging lessons learned on introducing sustainable procurement in the global health aid market (8). 

Internships offer a small group of outstanding graduate-level students, interested in the health and environment, and particularly sustainable procurement, the opportunity to acquire direct exposure to UNDP's work. They are designed to complement development-oriented studies with practical experience in various aspects of multilateral technical cooperation, but also complement other international studies, including law. While the primary objective for this internship is to assist the SPHS Secretariat in administrative and logistical services, the intern will also have the chance to participate in writing of project proposals with a focus on the SPHS mandate, conduct research on green procurement in the health sector, organize working sessions, liaise with expert stakeholders from the academic, scientific, and third-sector community and facilitate knowledge dissemination and exchange among the various interested parties on the SPHS initiative and the Task Team.

Notes:

http://www.greeningtheblue.org/ 
http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/rbec/en/home/library/hiv_aids/rapid-assessment-healthcare-waste-global-fund
http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/rbec/en/home/library/hiv_aids/Carbon_footprint_UNDP_Global_Fund_health_initiatives_Montenegro_Tajikistan/
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/hiv-aids/managing-our-climate-change-risk--an-approach-for-environmental-.html
https://iiattsphs.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/sphs-6-pager.pdf 
http://www.slideshare.net/undpeuropeandcis/20150615-ipc-2015sphsmainhighlightsfinal 
https://iiattsphs.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/sphs-annual-report-2014_print_v3.pdf 
www.iiattsphs.org

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance of the SPHS Associate Coordinator (Supervisor) and under the overall supervision of the SPHS Coordinator, and in close collaboration with the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub HIV, Health and Development team and the SPHS members, the candidate will initiate/assist/monitor and develop the following initiatives; and the planning of regular meetings as well as facilitate knowledge exchange.

The intern will be expected to:

• Assist the Supervisor in administrative and logistical support to the SPHS Secretariat (e.g. assist in providing assistance to inter-agency working groups and committees);
• Assist in organization of regular meetings for the SPHS by inviting external participants, drafting the agenda, coordinating all logistics and technological support;
• Organize teleconferences with UN and non-UN members and write minutes;
• Prepare stream of activities on monthly basis;
• Assist with the relationship management, including the management of online contacts data bases;
• File documents and compile data;
• Prepare PowerPoint presentations: briefing on the SPHS;
• Assist in communicating findings and facilitating knowledge dissemination and exchange among the various interested parties;
• Support communications between internal and external parties and serve as a ‘point of contact’ for requests for information on the initiative/task team;
• Assist in identifying, contacting and following-up with partners employing ‘best practices’ in sustainable procurement in the health sector;
• Assist in the review of lessons learnt from SPHS members and other green procurement initiatives;
• Assist with liaising with expert stakeholders from the academic, scientific, and third-sector community in order to adapt a methodology for introducing environmental criteria in bidding processes;
• Contribute to the process of writing proposals which will be submitted to diverse institutions, with an aim of obtaining additional funding for activities which fall under the SPHS mandate;
• Others as required.

The internship will also span broader aspects related to health and environment, including the particular focus on sustainability in procurement of goods and services for the health sector from a life-cycle approach. This will be in terms of further research into the innovations being carried out globally in this field as well as aspects such as Corporate Social Responsibility. The ways in which UN policies and practices for sustainability can promote economic and social development in developing countries rather than pose obstacles to economic growth in emerging markets is also an important area of consideration that the intern will be encouraged to explore.

The aim of the internship will be to enhance the theoretical knowledge of the intern through substantive and operational engagement with sustainability practices and policies of the Organization while assisting with the initiatives and plans that are already in place and those that are in the pipeline.

Competencies

• Good team worker;
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to multi-task;
• Must be able to work in a multicultural environment and be aware of political sensitivities;
• Responsible, responsive, and enthusiastic;
• Be willing to work within the framework of UNDP’s internship policies.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Enrollment in a graduate-level degree programme in a development related field such as economics, public or business administration, environmental studies, public health or health and environment;
• Interested candidate will be eligible to undertake this internship only if he/she is currently, and over the full period of internship, enrolled in the graduate level course.

Experience:

• Knowledge of sustainable development terminology a strong advantage;
• Must be available at least 20 hours a week for a period of 6 months;
• Experience in project writing; resource mobilization; partnership building; experience in event management would be an asset;
• Academic background in environmental sciences would be a strong asset;
• Experiences in relationship management would be a strong asset;
• Proficient with managing Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and data bases;
• Solid writing and communications abilities.

Languages:

• Written and spoken proficiency in at least one, and preferably two of the three working languages used by UNDP: English, French and Spanish;
• Fluency in Arabic, Portuguese, Russian or Eastern European language is an asset.

Financial Issues:

Internships within the UN system are unpaid and subject to conditions the applicant must get familiar with prior to signing his/her internship agreement.

The costs associated with the internship 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 etc.

Application procedure:

The application should contain:

• Brief Cover Letter (in English) stating interest, availability over the period and qualifications for the post;
• Current and complete CV in English.

Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.
Candidates who are selected for must submit prior to the interview the following documents:

• Official letter from the University confirming enrollment in a graduate-level degree programme;
• Proof of medical and life/accident insurance valid for the location in which the internship will be carried out. Selected intern must have medical and life insurance.

UNDP only accepts interns for a minimum of 6 weeks and a maximum of 6 months.
UNDP accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness or death incurred during the internship.
Interns are not staff members and may not represent UNDP in any official capacity.
It is important to note that interns are responsible to arrange for their own visa and residence documents, and need to plan for these well in advance.

Subsquent employment

The purpose of the Internship Programme is not to lead to further employment with UNDP but to complement an intern’s studies. 
Therefore, there should be no expectation of employment at the end of an internship.
More information available at: http://www.undp.org/internships/.

Interns are selected on a competitive basis. The above minimum qualifications are required.