Background

The UN Capital Development Fund makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 46 least developed countries (LDCs). 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: (1) inclusive digital economies, which connects 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; (2) local development finance, which capacitates localities through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance to drive local economic expansion and sustainable development; and (3) investment finance, which provides catalytic financial structuring, de-risking, and capital deployment to drive SDG impact and domestic resource mobilization.

About UNCDF Myanmar

UNCDF has been operating in Myanmar since 2012 with a capital mandate to expand savings-led financial inclusion and use localized investments to drive poverty reduction and sustainable development. The country program seeks to improve financial service access and usage to achieve equitable, sustainable, and inclusive growth within the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP), which includes the use of innovate solutions to bring formal services for people at the bottom of the pyramid.

“Expanding Financial Access” (EFA) is the core programme in Myanmar and works hand in hand at the country level with other regional and global UNCDF.

In a pre-pandemic scenario, the need for digital products such as digital loan repayments or electronic cash transfers was a good accomplishment for the financial sector and humanitarian and development actors.In a post-pandemic scenario, faced with the double impact of the ongoing political and humanitarian crisis in the country, the need for digital products such as digital loan repayments or electronic cash transfers is an essential accomplishment for the financial sector and humanitarian and development actors. With an increasing number of marginalized segments, restricted mobility, and a growing poverty rate, digital payments are critical to deliver resources to vulnerable populations in hard-to-reach areas and become a necessary consideration for financial institutions in these fluid contexts.

UNCDF is looking for qualified interns to support its different activities related to the following functional areas:

• Innovation Fund
• Data Analytics
• Partnership and Programme Expansion
• Monitoring & Evaluation and Operation
• Communications and Knowledge Management

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.

Work Arrangements:

• Internships will be in the duty stations: Yangon, Myanmar
• These internships may be for both full-time or part-time placements, depending upon 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 as a part of the internship offer to successful candidates.
• Interns are expected to use her/ his own computer/ laptop, as they may not have full-time access of office computer/ laptops;
• Contribution made by interns to any organizational publications will be acknowledged and/or recognized if the publication rules allow for authorship to be mentioned.
• Only longlisted candidates will be invited for a zoom/skype interview.

Internships Conditions:

• UNCDF Internship programme is governed by the UNDP Internship policy framework & 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 or learning growth
• There is no expectation of employment at the end of these internships.

IMPORTANT NOTE: 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 on an ongoing basis, as per organizational need.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the UNCDF Myanmar staff, the key activities expected from the interns are:

Innovation Fund

• Support for conducting background study on digital transformation of the financial sector needs
• Support developing concept notes on digital transformation of financial 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
• Other tasks as requested.

Data Analytics

• Data Analytics that includes working with team on big data engagement, analyzing trends, assist the team with documenting the same;
• Conduct deep-dive thematic research on key issues related to financial inclusion in Myanmar  
• Support in data curation and analytics and experimenting with new data techniques
• Support systematic case study analyses 
• Other tasks as requested.

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 Myanmar to carry out donor mapping exercise and develop resource mobilization strategies
• Other tasks as requested.

Monitoring & Evaluation and Operation

• Review, update, develop and streamline the activity tracker for UNCDF Myanmar activities. This includes updating verification documents and links as well as updating the tracker with new activities and documents.
• Research industry trends in financial inclusion and identify benchmarks that can be used by the M&E team.   
• Support KPI data aggregation
• Support project’s day-to-day operation activities
• Develop operation tracking tools
• Supporting the organization and coordination of workshops, conferences and inter-organization meetings
• Provide assistance in procurement efforts and logistical needs
• Other tasks as requested.

Communications and Knowledge Management

•  Pitching, writing, proofreading, translating and editing thought leadership, human-impact and other stories and articles
• Assisting in the management of social media contents to promote UNCDF work on corporate channels
• Supporting the maintenance of the internal online Knowledge Management platforms to ensure ease of access, user-friendliness, and currency of resources
• Development of visual social media, web and print assets, Supporting the preparation and dissemination of reports and other communications materials
• Supporting the organization of various online/offline meetings/events when and as required
• Other tasks as requested

Competencies

UNCDF/UNDP Core competencies

• Communication
• Delivery
• Innovation
• Leadership
• People Management

Functional Competencies

• Demonstrable skills in research, analytical thinking, and communication;
• Excellent writing and editing skills in 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;
• Interest in the UN system and general knowledge of development issues is a plus
• Self-starter; organized; able to multitask, balance multiple responsibilities, and work to deadline.

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.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: 

Candidate must be enrolled in a degree programme in Social Sciences, International Relations, Economic Development, Economics, Finance, Journalism, Political Science, Communications, Graphic Design, 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:

(a) Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);

(b) Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor’s level or equivalent);

(c) Have graduated with a university degree (as defined in (a) and (b) above) and, if selected, must start the internship within two year of graduation.

Work Experience & Desired Skillset: 

• Demonstrated experience, part or full-time, paid or volunteer, in economics, policy related work, finance, inclusive finance, communications, knowledge management 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 the Communications and Knowledge Management role must also have:

• Experience in pitching, writing, editing and proofreading various texts for diverse audiences for social media, web and print.
• Familiarity with social media platforms and graphic design and photo editing software applications (Canva, Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop).
• Interest in internal knowledgemanagement is an advantage.
• Proficiency or prior experience in MS Word, PowerPoint and/or Keynote 

And 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 English and Myanmar required.
• Knowledge of other UN languages will be considered a plus.