Background

UNDP’s Crisis Bureau (CB) has corporate responsibility for UNDP’s corporate crisis-related work and driving UNDP’s vision and priorities for crisis prevention, response, and recovery, to support the strategic results, outcomes and outputs of UNDP's Strategic Plan. CB teams provide technical advice to Country Offices; advocate UNDP corporate messages; represent UNDP as required, including at multi-stakeholder fora, public-private, and government-civil society dialogue initiatives; promote and support South-South and Triangular cooperation initiatives; and engage in UN interagency coordination in the areas of work the Strategic Plan – building resilience to shocks and crises, in order to safeguard development gains.

Within the CB, the Conflict Prevention, Peacebuilding and Responsive Institutions (CPPRI) team works on the integration of governance, conflict prevention and peacebuilding interventions. The CPPRI team leads and coordinates UNDP's corporate, global approach on how to prevent violent extremism (PVE) from a development perspective. This approach continues to evolve and develop in response to the changing strategies of violent extremist groups, government responses and development of new policy frameworks. In support hereof, UNDP commissions new research, identifies best practices and promote knowledge sharing across multiple stakeholders supporting the prevention of violent extremism. The communication and dissemination of these results are essential for enhancing the quality of programming, building and maintaining partnerships, and facilitate knowledge exchange across a community of practice.

It is within this context that UNDP is seeking a Communication Intern to support the graphic visualisation of operational information, management of websites, communication and outreach efforts, based on the 2023/23 Communication Plan. The intern will engage with the PVE Team in New York as well as colleagues in Country Offices and Regional Hubs to enhance communication across the practice. As such, the intern is expected to be flexible with regards to working hours.

This position will expose the intern to unique insights on implementation of peacebuilding and prevention of violent extremism programmes across the 42 countries in which UNDP implements PVE projects. Furthermore, the nature of the tasks will offer the intern great opportunities to develop analytical skills, strategic writing and communication within international development. The intern will have a unique opportunity to operate in a diverse and dynamic global workspace and expand personal and professional networks. The supervisor will work closely with the intern to identify and track learning objectives, provide quality assurance and feedback.

Please note that this is a paid internship, and the intern will receive a stipend of 1000 USD/month.

Duties and Responsibilities

The intern will assist the Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) Team by supporting the development and implementation of the communication strategy for the team as well as support efforts to collect and manage knowledge. Specifically, the intern will:

  • Contribute to the implementation of the PVE team’s communication plan 2022/23
  • Support the planning and implementation of events, workshops, and webinars, specifically focusing on developing visually appealing pre- and post-event communication products
  • Develop newsletters, web stories, and blogs to enhance visibility of PVE programming
  • Support data visualisation by creating brochures, infographics and other visual products
  • Support the maintenance of the PVE Community of Practice and UNDP PVE sub-site
  • Perform other tasks as required by the PVE team.

 

Competencies

  • A well-organized individual with the ability to multi-task;
  • Ability to work productively and effectively with others and individually;
  • Respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter and the UNDP Statement of Purpose;
  • Demonstrates very good understanding of and experience in communications and outreach

  • Basic knowledge of peacebuilding, conflict prevention and/or prevention of violent extremism
  • Solid communication and advocacy skills, with proven experience in communicating sensitively, effectively, and creatively to a wide audience of stakeholders
  • Familiarity with current communication channels, including social media platforms
  • Knowledge of graphic software such as Canva, Mailchimp, and/or Adobe Illustrator preferred
  • Strong IT skills, including the use of MS PowerPoint, Excel, Teams and SharePoint
  • Creativity in writing and designing content, including storytelling skills, is an advantage
  • Familiarity with Drupal and digital content management is an advantage
  • Previous related work experience in a national or an international entity an advantage.
  • Fluency in English required. 
  • Knowledge of other UN official languages is an asset.

Required Skills and Experience

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

  • Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher)
  • Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s level or equivalent)

Have graduated with a university degree in relevant fields such as Communication, International Development, Journalism, Social Sciences, Humanitarian Affairs, or other related fields, and, if selected, must start the internship within one-year of graduation