Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Representation Office in Brussels, Belgium has a position for a qualified part-time intern for a period of 6 to 9 months, starting 9 September 2019.

Background

UNDP partners with national governments and people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. Active in more than 170 countries and territories, UNDP offers a global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. UNDP helps countries to build and share development solutions in the following three main areas:

1. Sustainable Development
2. Democratic Governance and Peacebuilding
3. Climate and Disaster Resilience

In all its work, UNDP works to ensure the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women, minorities and the poorest and most vulnerable.

The EC-UNDP Joint Task Force in Electoral Assistance (JTF) was established in 2007, to further strengthen and facilitate the already existing EC-UNDP partnership in the field of electoral assistance and improve the overall efficiency and adherence of the projects to the common EC-UNDP strategic approach. The JTF monitors and supports the EC-UNDP Partnership in Electoral Assistance, which, since 2004, has seen over $1 billion of EU funds support UNDP-implemented electoral assistance projects in approximately 50 countries. The JTF also develops and implements, in association with the European Commission, numerous training events and thematic workshops, as well as knowledge products on matters related to electoral assistance learned from experience implementing the national level projects. The day-to-day work of the JTF currently includes support to project formulation and resource mobilization, monitoring and support, development of knowledge products such as publications and eLearnings. The JTF has also been organizing a number of global thematic workshops worldwide, regularly carries out communication and outreach events such as photo exhibitions and produces promotional materials on a regular basis. 

In 2018, the JTF has developed a joint EU-UNDP “Sustaining Peace through Elections” (SELECT) initiative, aiming at developing programmatic tools to be used in electoral assistance projects’ design and implementation. Within this initiative, the JTF has organised a global conference held in Brussels late 2018 to collect feedback and observations of various electoral stakeholders in order to finalize the study. Early 2019, the SELECT initiative has entered the implementation phase and will be piloted in several countries worldwide. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the senior electoral advisor and JTF coordinator, the intern shall perform the following tasks:

• Collecting and cataloguing information from ongoing projects to populate the websites;
• Assist in maintaining all of the electoral assistance projects websites and the JTF website;
• Assist in the drafting of articles on projects’ activities;
• Assist in the drafting and consolidation of monthly reports;
• Update JTF social media pages (Twitter, Facebook);
• Assist in providing administrative and logistics support in the organization of events;
• When required, assist in translation of documents (French/English)
• Conducting ongoing research on electoral assistance and conflict prevention as part of the SELECT initiative;

Competencies

• Strong organizational and research skills;
• Excellent analytical, communication and writing skills;
• Excellent interpersonal skills;
• Demonstrated keen interest in the work of the UN/UNDP;
• Computer proficiency in standard software applications (MS Office, Excel, Word, Powerpoint);
• Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modelling the UN/UNDP’s values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Fluency in French and English mandatory (written and spoken)

Required Skills and Experience

Notes

Interns’ Expenses/Arrangements:

Please note that interns are not financially remunerated by UNDP. All costs associated with an intern’s participation in the programme must be borne by the nominating institution, related institution or government, which may provide the required financial assistance to its students; or by the intern, who will have to obtain financing for subsistence and make his/her own arrangements for travel (including to and from the office), visas, accommodation, etc.

Subsequent 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.

Application Process:

The application should contain:

• Motivation letter specifying reasons why candidate is seeking the internship and what is expected from the experience;
• Recent Curriculum Vitae;
• Official letter from the University confirming enrollment and specifying expected graduation date (for students);
• Official letter from the University confirming graduation date (for graduates).

(NB: Please upload the above in a single file. Incomplete applications will not be considered)

UNDP accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness or death incurred during the internship.

Prior to being offered a Letter of Acceptance for Internship, the selected candidate will have to provide the following additional documents:

• A Medical Certificate of Good Health from a recognized physician. If the intern is expected to travel outside the country of their residence, other than to Europe and North America, the physician must indicate whether s/he is for to travel and has the required inoculations for the country to which they are to travel;
• Proof of valid Medical Insurance cover valid for the duration of the internship programme in Belgium;
• For applicants who are not resident in Belgium, the insurance cover must include adequate coverage in the event of an injury or illness during the internship duration which:

(a) requires transportation to the home country or country of residence for further treatment;

(b) results in death and requires preparation and return of the remains to the home country, or country of residence.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.