Background

UNDP works in about 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results. Our development work is designed to contribute to i) eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, ii) accelerating structural transformations, and iii) building resilience to shocks and crises. In order to respond to these issues, and better focus its resources and expertise to deliver on the 2030 Agenda, UNDP sets 6 core areas of work which are 1) Keeping people out of POVERTY, 2) GOVERNANCE for peaceful, just, and inclusive societies, 3) Crisis prevention and increased RESILIENCE, 4) ENVIRONMENT: nature-based solutions for development, 5) Clean, affordable ENERGY and 6) Women's empowerment and GENDER equality.

For the area of governance, UNDP has developed a holistic and integrated global approach to provide policy and programme support to country offices towards inclusive and accountable governance systems. UNDP seek to build inclusive, effective and accountable institutions and mechanisms for the peaceful resolution of conflict and for advancing social cohesion. This requires ensuring the inclusion of women, youth, people with disabilities and other traditionally marginalized groups throughout political process. In this context, UNDP supports electoral cycle, parliamentary development in both crisis and non-crisis settings and development of identity management.

The governance work to promote resilient state-society relations, focusing on:

  • Electoral Cycle – UNDP works to build the capacities of electoral management bodies, other electoral institutions, media and CSOs;
  • Political participation and leadership of Youth, Women and Persons with Disability- UNDP promotes inclusive and participative public institutions by ensuring they have the structure, legal framework and capacity to engage all citizens - particularly women, youth and persons with disablity - in the political process, and facilitate their participation and leadership in peacebuilding and other political processes;
  • Capacity Building of Parliament – UNDP works with legislative bodies to develop their process skills, substantive knowledge and procedural skills.
  • Legal Identity for All – UNDP coordinates with other UN agencies to implement activities on respective civil registration and identity management efforts at national, regional and global level.
  • Civic Engagement – UNDP works to create space for civic engagement, as well as to develop the capacities of a range of civil society actors, including CSOs, women, young people and minorities, both to act as intermediaries in political advocacy and representation and to directly engage in political processes;

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the daily management of Policy Specialists and Policy Analysts in UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS), Global Policy Network (GPN), the intern will work on followings:

In particular, the intern is responsible for the following outputs:

  • Support UNDP’s electoral portfolio with the update of the election project data registry and websites
  • Support research and events for election, parliament, legal identity and civic engagement portfolio
  • Support communication and advocacy for election, parliament, legal identity and civic engagement portfolio
  • Conducting other tasks as requested.

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles:

  • Integrity: Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UNDP in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
  • Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity: Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards;
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP and the UN;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Required Skills and Experience

Required Skills and Experience:

  • Enrollment in a graduate-level degree programme at the time of application and during the internship in a relevant discipline (social or political sciences, law, international relations, economics, public or business administration, etc.) with a demonstrated interest in democracy promotion, public institutions, good governance and peacebuilding.
  • Exposure to democratic governance agenda, and preferably parliamentary development, electoral cycle, political participation of women, youth, persons with disability and/or legal identity.
  • Experience in research and analysis.
  • Excellent excel skills- strong advantage for candidates who can use macro sheet and pivot table.
  • Excellent communication and writing skills.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills.
  • Experience organizing meetings.
  • Computer proficiency, including working knowledge of MS Office products. Experience managing web portals is an asset.
  • Prior experience with NGOs, UN, or international institutions is a strong asset.
  • Experience working collaboratively in a team structure in a multicultural environment.
  • Fluency in spoken and written English as well as French and/or Spanish.

Eligibility

Applicants to the UNDP internship programme must at the time of application meet one of the following requirements:

  1. Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);
  2. Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor’s level or equivalent);
  3. Have graduated with a university degree (as defined in (a) and (b) above) and, if selected, must start the internship within one-year of graduation.

Financial Arrangements:

UNDP does not pay for internships. 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.

The intern will be engaged full-time from 1 March for a minimum period of 3 months, and maximum of 6 months. The intern will work from UNDP’s office in New York. Day-to-day supervision will be undertaken by policy specialists and analysts working for election, parliament, legal identity and civic engagement .

Further Career Opportunities:  

The purpose of internships is not to lead to further employment with UNDP but, as mentioned, to complement an intern's studies.