The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 46 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development.

UNCDF’s financing models work through three channels: inclusive digital economies, connecting individuals, households, and small businesses with financial eco-systems that catalyze participation in the local economy, and provide tools to climb out of poverty and manage financial lives; local development finance, that capacitates localities through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance to drive local economic expansion and sustainable development; and investment finance, that provides catalytic financial structuring, de-risking, and capital deployment to drive SDG impact and domestic resource mobilization. By strengthening how finance works for poor people at the household, small enterprise, and local infrastructure levels, UNCDF contributes to Sustainable Development Goal-SDG 1 on eradicating poverty and SDG 17 on the means of implementation. By identifying those market segments where innovative financing models can have transformational impact in helping to reach the last mile and address exclusion and inequalities of access, UNCDF contributes to a broad diversity of SDGs.

About Digital @UNCDF

The UNCDF strategy ‘Leaving no one behind in the digital era’ is based on over a decade of experience in digital financial inclusion in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. UNCDF leverages digital finance in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to achieve the vision of promoting digital economies that leave no one behind. The goal of UNCDF is to empower millions of people by 2024 to use services daily that leverage innovation and technology and contribute to the SDGs. To achieve this vision UNCDF uses a market development approach and continuously seeks to address underlying market dysfunctions that exclude people living in the last mile.

UNCDF is looking for qualified interns to support its different activities related to the following functional areas in its Regional Hub/Country office located in Thailand, DRC and Burkina Faso:

• Innovation Fund
• Research and Data Analytics
• Partnership and Programme Expansion

The internship manager is committed to providing the intern with the training, guidance and support necessary to complete the below duties and responsibilities effectively and within the internship period. This will include, but not be limited to, scheduled meetings (weekly) to assess output progress, systems training (if required) and completion of required university reports for the purpose of meeting any necessary Degree requirements.

Under the supervision of the UNCDF staff, the key results expected from IDE Energy for Global interns  are;

Innovation Fund

• Support for conducting background study on energy enterprises in DRC and Burkina Faso;
• Support developing concept notes on clean energy access/efficiency and climate change sector players;
• Support project partners to create risk registers and implement risk management practices;
• Analyzing challenge fund project outputs and impacts to create project impact dashboards;
• Support challenge fund management;
• Any other duties as assigned.

Research and Data Analytics

• Data Analytics that includes working with team on bigdata engagement, analyzing trends, assist the team with documenting the same;
• Conduct deep-dive thematic research on key issues related to energy finance, climate change in Asia, Africa and Pacific countries
• Support in data curation and analytics and experimenting with new data techniques;
• Support systematic case study analyses;
• Any other duties as assigned.

Partnership and Programme Expansion

• Undertake review of various intervention plans and leads including engaging background research and stakeholder discussions to further develop these interventions into specific concepts, intervention themes or proposals that the project should implement in target countries;
• Support UNCDF staff to carry out donor mapping exercise and develop resource mobilization strategies for African, Asia and Pacific countries;
• Any other duties as assigned;

Working Arrangements:

• These research internships may be for both full-time or part-time placements, depending on the organization needs and changing pace of UNCDF work. Selected interns may be asked to work on either full-time or a part-time basis (at least 16 hours per week/ 2 days a week minimum). This will be communicated in the internship offer to successful candidates;
• Interns are expected to use own computer/ laptop, as they may not have full-time access of office computer/ laptops and this is a Home-based internship;
• Contribution made by research interns to any organizational publications will be acknowledged and/or recognized if the publication rules allows for authorship to be mentioned.
• Only longlisted candidates will be invited for a technical written test (via email) and the top scoring candidates will be invited for a phone/Skype interview.

Internships Conditions:

• UNCDF Internship programme is governed by the UNDP Internship policy framework and rules;
• Interns are partially financially remunerated by UNCDF. The costs associated with the assignment will be partially supported by UNCDF and rest to 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/her own arrangements for travel, accommodation, etc. Proof of medical and life/accident insurance valid for the location in which the internship will be carried out (i.e. Bangkok, Thailand);
• Under the new revised UNDP internship policy, UNCDF will provide a modest monthly internship stipend to its interns, in  accordance with the provisions of the UNDP Internship policy. All expenses connected with the internship will be borne by the intern or her/his sponsoring entity/institution;
• Selected Interns must be able to share proof of education enrolment and/or graduation, medical/ health and life/accident insurance, valid for the location in which the internship will be carried out and be able to provide insurance documentary proof at the time of their selection;
• The purpose of the Internship Programme is not to lead to further employment with UNCDF but to complement an intern’s studies and learning growth. 
• There is no expectation of employment at the end of these internships.

UNCDF team members are currently located in most of the countries across Thailand, DRC and Burkina Faso. Selected interns are expected to work closely with an assigned team member of UNCDF, based in one of the specified locations listed above.

Application Process:

Please note that the UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents (CV/ Resume, Cover Letter etc. into a single file before uploading).

• In your application, please state in one paragraph why you would like to be considered for the internship and your primary motivation to apply for this role;
• Please note that you will need to answer the mandatory questions on timeframe and availability (under Additional Questions section), which is a part of the internship application process, in addition to your cover letter;
• Please submit your Resume/CV and an application using the UNCDF Internship Application form: http://www.uncdf.org/download/file/127/2509/internshipdoc
• Applications should include the application form and latest resume. Applicants are welcome to submit any additional work samples or portfolios in one single file, preferably PDF;
• Interested candidates can apply at any time indicating the timeframe of their availability in the internship form. However, only those candidates selected for interviews/ further assessment by hiring managers will be contacted.

Core Competencies

• Communication
• Delivery
• Innovation
• Leadership
• People Management

Functional Competencies

• Demonstrable skills in research, analytical thinking, and communication;
• Excellent writing and editing skills in French and English;
• Proven ability to manage diverse and complex tasks, with tight deadlines;
• Able to take initiative and work independently, with minimum supervision;
• Strong organizational, communication and interpersonal skills with ability to work under pressure within an international setting; 

Guiding Principles

• Demonstrates consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UNCDF in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct
• Demonstrates an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff
• Demonstrates an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity
• Demonstrates an intellectual curiosity and deep desire to learn
• Demonstrates a consistent commitment to pro-actively helping fellow members of the PPC Unit and UNCDF more broadly in their day-to-day activities to the reasonable extent possible

Additional assignment-specific qualifications:

• Solid understanding of international relations and development
• Interest in the UN system and general knowledge of development issues is a plus

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Candidate must be enrolled in a degree programme in Social Sciences, International Relations, Economic Development, Economics, Environmental Sciences, Finance, Journalism, Political Science, Marketing, Business administration or other related fields.

Applicants to the UNCDF 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.

Work Experience and Desired Skillset:

• Demonstrated experience, part or full-time, paid or volunteer, in economics, policy related work, finance, inclusive finance, energy finance, climate change or related fields;
• Demonstrated research and analytical capacity;
• Excellent computer, mobile apps, and digital tools operating capabilities.
• Must be able to work in a multicultural environment and be aware of political sensitivities.

In addition to above experience and skillset, applicants apply for  Data Analytics must also have:

• Experienced in STATA, R-Studio, Tableau, Nvivo, Power-BI, Python, GIS Mapping, software’s, or other similar data analytic tools

Languages:

• Fluency in French and English required.
• Knowledge of other UN languages will be considered a plus.