The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 47 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.

The Pacific  Insurance and Climate Adaptation Programme has been jointly developed and is being implemented by UNCDF, UNDP and UNU-EHS. The overall objective of the Pacific Insurance and Climate Adaptation Programme (PICAP) is to improve the financial preparedness of Pacific governments and communities, specifically vulnerable segments of society and economic sectors, towards climate change and natural hazards

Under the guidance & supervision of the Programme Manager and in close collaboration with other colleagues in the Pacific, the intern will assist in any of the following tasks:

• Secondary research in areas of policy and regulation relating to inclusive insurance, climate disaster risk financing and insurance (CDRFI) including parametric insurance and related areas
• Preparation of policy briefs, concept notes, discussion papers and presentations in areas including but not limited to CDRFI
• Undertake studies with project partners to highlight their inclusive insurance deployments, performance and journey with a view to publish lessons learnt
• Providing remote support to project partners during development of project appraisal documents in specificied formats
• Conduct research to feed into baseline indicators as part of the PICAP results measurement plan
• Assist in the development of knowledge products, blogs and presentations relating to inclusive insurance, CDRFI and other related topics
• Other  specific tasks as specificied by the Programme Manager from time to time

Further, the Programme Manager is committed to providing the intern with the training, guidance and support necessary to complete the above 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 academic requirements.

UNCDF/UNDP Core competencies:

• Communication
• Delivery
• Innovation
• Leadership
• People Management

Functional & Technical Competencies:

• Demonstrates strong writing skills, particularly the ability to present persuasive, coherent and well-founded arguments.
• Demonstrates drive to achieve results in timely manner and to seek and find solutions to any problems encountered.
• Demonstrates ability to communicate clearly and persuasively.
• Ability to convert complex and abstract ideas into simple visual concepts.
• Demonstrates an intellectual curiosity and deep desire to learn.
• Demonstrates a consistent commitment to pro-actively helping fellow members of the team.

Education: 

• Candidate must be enrolled in a degree/Post-graduate programme in Social Sciences, International Relations, Economic Development, Economics, Finance, Journalism, Political Science, Communications, or related field.
• Applicants to the UNCDF/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 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 (as defined in (a) and (b) above) and, if selected, must start the internship within one-year of graduation.

Work Experience & Desired Skillset: 

• Experience in development projects especially in the area of financial services
• Experience in working with policy makers, Government Ministries and private sector financial service providers
• Self-starter; organized; able to multitask, balance multiple responsibilities, and work to deadline.

Languages:

• Fluency in English required.

Notes:

Financial Issues

Internships within the UN system are paid and subject to conditions the applicant must get familiar with prior to signing his/her internship agreement.
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.

Application procedure
The application should contain:

• Brief Cover Letter (in English) stating interest in and qualifications for the post;
• Current and complete CV in English;

Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.
Candidates who are selected for must submit prior to the interview the following documents:

• Official letter from the University confirming enrollment in a graduate-level degree programme;
• Proof of medical and life/accident insurance valid for the location from where the internship will be carried out. Selected intern must have medical and life insurance.

UNDP only accepts interns for a minimum of 6 weeks and a maximum of 6 months.
UNDP accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness or death incurred during the internship.
Interns are not staff members and may not represent UNDP in any official capacity.
It is important to note that interns are responsible to arrange for their own visa and residence documents, and need to plan for these well in advance.

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.
More information available at: http://www.undp.org/internships/.