Background

UNDP works in some 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results. Inclusive growth, better services, environmental sustainability, good governance, and security are fundamental to development progress. We offer our expertise in development thinking and practice, and our decades of experience at country level, to support countries to meet their development aspirations and achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development is a joint initiative by the Government of Singapore and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which aims at identifying and co-creating technological solutions for sustainable development. The Centre curates partnerships, identifies solutions and connects partners and innovations with UNDP’s global network of Country Offices and development partners. 

UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) is responsible for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan.  BPPS’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages; represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, South-South, SIDS-SIDS and Triangular cooperation initiatives; and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. BPPS assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results-based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working. BPPS supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative as well as knowledge and data driven through its programme support efforts. 

UNDP is committed to Small Island Developing States (SIDS), working to connect the UN global processes to regional and local development priorities and supporting and advocating for SIDS-specific development solutions. With a broad country presence, UNDP has a major organizational investment and a multi-sectoral programme portfolio in SIDS. UNDP was at the forefront of the Third International Conference of SIDS in Samoa in September 2014, with BPPS playing a key role in the preparations of the Conference and actively following up on actions identified in the outcome document, SAMOA Pathway. One of the outcomes in the UNDP Strategic Plan 2018-2021 is tailored to give special attention to “capacities developed across the whole of government to integrate the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement and other international agreements (including the SAMOA Pathway) in development plans and budgets, and to analyze progress towards the SDGs, using innovative and data-driven solutions.” UNDP is committed to support SIDS through a global framework, consisting of three main pillars: Climate Action, Blue Economy and Digital Transformation. Through strategic partnerships and advocacy, UNDP aims to bridge gaps and create a network between SIDS and other key stakeholders. UNDP supports SIDS governments to build capacity — institutional, policy, technical — which enhances regional support the implementation of international normative standards and commitments in their own countries. 

UNDP has a large portfolio on digital transformation and digital solutions for sustainable development through the Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development as well as strong focus on digital transformation under the policy advisory and programmatic focus on Small Island Developing States. As a new component of the UNDP SIDS Offer "Rising Up For SIDS", the SIDS Data Platform is a new digital tool for accelerating development in SIDS by providing policymakers, research institutions, and country offices with access to updated, standardized, and comprehensive data. The visualization and analytics features of this platform will help SIDS to respond to the SAMOA Pathway and the 2030 agenda by rising up to the urgent challenges of climate change and their green and blue transition. By focusing on the needs of SIDS, this tool has been designed specifically to feature datasets about Digital Transformation, Blue Economy, and Climate Action. There are three main types of data within the SIDS Data Platform, including country-level development indicators, geospatial data, and data on the UNDP portfolio of projects and investment in SIDS per SDG and SAMOA Pathway Priority. Automated analytics and machine learning tools within the platform provide development actors with the ability to explore correlation between datasets, identify high-risk areas within countries, and visualize regional development opportunities.  

The UNDP SIDS team has been developing a data platform designed to visualize and analyze the challenges and solutions for development in the SIDS. In addition to visualizing publicly available datasets, the platform will present specific geospatial studies being developed by UNDP and other UN agencies. Analysis tools are being developed extract insights from the geospatial datasets, such as correlation between datasets, identification of high-risk areas within countries, visualizing regional development potential in areas including food security, water, and energy access. To support this work, the SIDS team is looking for a intern to support the next phase of development which will include an abstracted version of the data platform which allows SIDS to build their own dashboards based on the databases and API built for the SIDS Data Platform. This will include a module of the SIDS Data course on creating country-level dashboards for monitoring and reporting on the SAMOA Pathway and SDGs, and development of templates and documentation for supporting this effort in data science capacity-building. Additionally, general support to the SIDS data team and publication of the SIDS Data Handbook will be an important part of this effort. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The intern is expected to support in the next phase of development of the SIDS Data Platform. Reporting jointly to the Director of the Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development and the Senior Principal Advisor for Small Island Developing States, the intern is expected to deliver the following support:  

  • Develop a easily customizable web template system charts for generating country-level dashboards for monitoring progress along the SAMOA Pathway and SDGs 

  • Document this dashboard system to be built on by SIDS stakeholders and country offices to utilize the compiled database and API in building custom dashboards 

  • Develop a module of the SIDS Data Course focused on building dashboards, including documentation on the custom SIDS Dashboard templates 

  • Support the full launch the SIDS Data Course. The course will include 7 modules, each based on a written handbook, presentation and script, video lecture, quiz, and interactive exercise. 

  • Support the ongoing technical development of the SIDS data platform  

  • Support the communications and knowledge management capacities of the team 

  • Support the data analytics technical effort as well as the creation of a set of data publications and documentation to accompany the SIDS data platform for a public release 

  • Support the SIDS portfolios’ and efforts of the Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development on an ad hoc basis as tasks arise 

Competencies

Candidate should have the following competencies:

  • Self-starter; organized and reliable;
  • Able to multitask and balance multiple responsibilities;
  • Demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and sensitivity to differing opinions and views.

Required Skills and Experience

Experience:  

Experience in data analytics, statistics, and data science methodologies 

Experience with data visualization including Tableau, Power BI, d3, R, and other modern tools 

Experience with using country-level indicators and multidimensional indices 

Experience developing interactive web dashboards relevant to development and UNDP focus areas   

Experience in statistical analytics for international development  

Familiarity with indicator databases published by UN agencies and other statistical organizations 

Voluntary / internship experience in conducting research in international development or related field 

An understanding of development issues pertaining to SIDS is an advantage; 

Good knowledge of United Nations System is desirable 

Written and spoken proficiency in English is a prerequisite. 

Field of studies:  

Statistics, Mathematics, International Development, Data Science, Geographic Information Systems, Computer Science, or related fields. 

Education: 

Interns are selected on a competitive basis. Applicants to UNDP internships must at the time of application meet one of the following academic 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 one-year of graduation. 

(d) be enrolled in a postgraduate professional traineeship program and undertake the internship as part of this program. 

Application Process

Note: UNDP internship application form and CV need to be combined in one PDF document for upload.

Conditions of internship

Internships within the UN system are subject to following conditions, which the candidates should familiarize themselves with prior to applying:

  • UNDP GC-TISD will provide a stipend in the amount of SGD859.13 monthly in accordance with the provisions of the UNDP Internship Policy;
  • Any further 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 arrangements for travel, accommodation and other costs;
  • UNDP accepts no responsibility for the medical and life insurance of the intern or costs arising from accidents and illness incurred during an internship. The Intern must provide proof of enrolment in a health insurance plan;
  • UNDP does not provide assistance with travel and/or housing and the Intern will be responsible for obtaining the necessary visas and arranging travel to and from the duty station where the internship will be performed;
  • The purpose of the Internship Programme is not to lead to further employment within the UN System, but to complement an intern’s studies. Therefore, there should be no expectation of employment at the end of an internship. Interns must not apply for or be appointed to a position that should be encumbered by a staff member during the period of their internship;
  • Interns are not staff members and may not represent UNDP in any official capacity;
  • UNDP only accepts interns for a minimum of 6 weeks and a maximum of 6 months.

Selected candidates must submit following documents prior to joining:

  • Letter from the university confirming current enrolment and graduation date;
  • Copy of passport and Singapore visa (or visa status);
  • A copy of his/her school transcript;
  • Proof of medical insurance including provision for medical evacuation and removal of mortal remains or life insurance and a medical certificate of good health prior to starting the internship.
  • A signed UNDP Internship Agreement.

Note: GC-TISD will consider both duty station and home-based options for this internship. More than1 intern will be selected, only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Kindly note the above documentation is required within one week after selection.