UNDP Jobs - 76928- Internship – Call for Applications- UNDP Regional

Internship – Call for Applications- UNDP Regional Hub, Amman Office

Location :

Amman, JORDAN

Type of Contract :

Internship

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

23-Feb-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

Intern

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

up to six months

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. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UNDP is the United Nation’s global development network advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to assist people build a better life. UNDP’s vision is to assist countries in achieving the simultaneous eradication of poverty and significant reduction of inequalities and exclusion. To strengthen inclusive and effective governance, the UNDP Strategic Plan focuses on ensuring participation and voice in pursuit of equitable access to development opportunities, and working with poor and other excluded groups as agents of their own development.

The Regional Hub for the Arab States in Amman, Jordan, expands and revitalizes UNDP’s presence in the Arab region. It provides policy advice and programmatic support to country offices in the region in an effort to be more responsive to increasing needs across the region. It also comes as part of UNDP’s global effort to become a more effective and efficient organization, fit for its purpose – to help countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and leave no one behind.

UNDP’s Amman Regional Hub is establishing a roster from which to pool qualified interns during the course of 2018 for a maximum period of 6 months, subject to the needs of the following Clusters/teams at the hub:

1- Governance and Peacebuilding

The Governance and Peacebuilding (G&P) Team provides assistance to the needs and priorities of country offices, regional projects and initiatives to ensure quality programming in the areas of conflict prevention and peacebuilding, inclusive political processes, rule of law, state building and public-sector reform, local governance, HIV, Health and Development. The Governance and Peacebuilding Team is structured along the following sub-themes:

Core Government Functions;
Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding;
Rule of Law; and,
Inclusive Political processes.

2- Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development

The team supports Country Offices and their national partners to develop their own integrated, transformative and scalable solutions to tackle the interconnected challenges of poverty, vulnerability, inequality and exclusion, in ways that are economically, socially and environmental sustainable, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The team assists in enhancing prospects for inclusive growth, jobs and livelihoods at national and local levels, including through economic recovery and resilience-building in crisis and post crisis contexts, focusing on empowering women and youth, and advancing opportunities for the most vulnerable. We also extend policy and program guidance for the implementation and monitoring of the SDGs, consistent with the UNDG MAPS (Mainstreaming, Acceleration, Policy Support) framework.

3- Innovation

UNDP emphasizes the need to identify, explore, test, evaluate and scale up innovative approaches across priority subject areas, in programme development, management and review, through established and new knowledge and collaboration partnerships, and as a key part of our own institutional innovation. UNDP focuses on the following two areas: (1) Innovative methodologies and tools for scanning the horizon, collecting and analysing data, and ideating, designing, prototyping and testing development solutions; and (2) Innovative methodologies and tools for scaling up demonstration projects identified/developed and ready for application. Collaboration across sectors (public, private, civil) with traditional partners and as well as those actors less historically engaged is a key element of this strategy.
The UNDP Innovation Facility, launched in 2014, supports initiatives that a) strengthen UNDP’s position as a leading advisor on innovation for development; b) enable national development actors to co-create value; c) increase understanding of the role and value of innovation for development; d) support social innovators both within the organization and from the broader development community; and finally, e) enhance UNDP’s own performance efficiency through innovative practices.
The Innovation Facility, situated in UNDP’s Development Impact Group and headquartered in New York, coordinates the allocation of funding and the substantive support to Country Offices through Regional Portfolio Teams, based in Addis Ababa, Amman, Bangkok, Istanbul, and Panama, and HQ staff.
Through the Innovative Team at the Hub, Country Offices in the region receive programme and policy advice on the above areas of focus and innovative related initiatives.

4- Climate Change and the Environment

One important track of UNDP cooperation is in the area of Climate Change and Environment. Countries in the Arab region are placing greater attention to: risks from climate change and drought; expanding solar energy and other low-carbon solutions; conserving increasingly scarce water resources; and promoting sustainable use of land and ecosystems. UNDP is the UNs largest provider of grant assistance to countries on these issues, with USD $4 billion of programming today in over 140 countries, including a growing number of partnerships in the Arab region.
The team expands cooperation in the Arab region, focusing on managing risks, building resilience, and implementing multilateral agreements such as the new Paris Agreement on Climate Change and Sendai DRR Framework. This is done in partnership with Government, civil society, business partners, regional entities like the League of Arab States, sister UN agencies, and global partners like the Global Environment Facility and Green Climate Fund.

5- Gender

The gender team provides support to country offices throughout the Arab region (18 country offices) to help ensure that all UNDP programming takes into account different needs of different sections of the population according to their gender. Programming is guided by the overall UNDP Strategic Plan and the Gender Equality Strategy. The team also provides support and advice to the regional programme of UNDP working closely with UNWomen, UNFPA and other UN agencies on work on gender justice, Violence Against Women and the development of resilience and livelihoods programming. The gender team is specifically seeking to develop a new area of programming with the private sector, based on the successful experience of UNDP in Latin America in developing a Private Sector Gender Equity Seal.

6- Regional Programme

The UNDP Regional Programme for Arab States addresses development challenges that are common across all or some countries of the region through a regional and sub-regional approach. Through this approach the regional programme generates and avails development knowledge and expertise to countries across the region, supports the creation and development of inter-country structures and networks, facilitates inter-country collaboration on cross-border issues.

Currently the Regional Programme comprises of about 10 projects around different thematic areas, such as trade, women’s empowerment, social cohesion, anti-corruption, climate resilience, data and knowledge among others. The Regional Programme is in line with the new UNDP Strategic Plan and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

7- Communications

In a crowded field of development actors effective strategic communication is essential to positioning UNDP as a trusted and preferred development partner in programme and donor countries alike, which, in turn is key to effective resource mobilization. The team provides advice and technical support to Country Offices and the Regional Programme on strategic means to raise the visibility of their work and results and to secure coverage for flagship initiatives and knowledge products, in order to enhance UNDP positioning and promote greater understanding of its key development endeavors. Support covers the area of development of communication and media strategies for Country Offices and their key counterparts and projects, and regional initiatives; branding; reputation management; media outreach and development activities; production support (conceptualization, contracting, production and quality assurance) to a wide range of communication products (print, audio-visual and online); and managing and maintaining presence on online and new media platforms.

8- Partnership
Stronger partnerships are essential for delivering on the vision and outcomes in UNDP’s Strategic Plan. The team advises Country Offices and the Regional Programme on how to partner with and raise funds from governments, private entities, development banks, and foundations to promote sustainable development. it provides partner intelligence and analysis on alignment between donor development mandates and UNDP priority thematic areas of work. The team advises Country Offices on their Resource Mobilization Implementation Plans.

9- Operations Team
The team provides advice on corporate operational strategies, policies and plans. It is responsible for delivering effective and efficient financial, human resources, procurement, administrative and logistical, and ICT services to all teams at the hub, in consistency with UNDP rules and regulations.

Duties and Responsibilities

While specified TOR will be based on the selection of the cluster/team, the tasks to be performed by the intern fall under one or more of the following categories as per the requirements/needs of each cluster/team:

Policy and Strategy Advice and Development:
• Prepare policy briefs, sector scan, status papers on development challenges based on desk review studies and analysis for evidence based advocacy and policy development in the relevant field.;
• Assist in the development of new or ongoing initiatives, including review of policy literature in respect to the subject to enhance UNDP programming in the relevant field within the Arab Region;
• Document good practices, cases studies, innovations and pilot models for wider dissemination and sharing;
• Prepare Report/Note on the role of UNDP’s Programmatic Support in Structural Transformation in Arab States

Project Design, formulation and other project related functions:

• Assist in policy development in relevant area within UNDP in the Arab Region feeding into global policy development;
• Prepare conceptual framework / concept notes on new areas of work or development challenges;
• Assist in the development of technical support in development of new interventions or projects;
• Prepare and review project documents;

Knowledge Management & Communications:

• Prepare knowledge and communication products for advocacy and outreach, related to national, regional and global initiatives within the relevant team;
• Review knowledge and communications products (subject, design and content);
• Disseminate knowledge and communications products
• Contribute to the preparation of social media content, the drafting of news, interviews and stories for knowledge platform, the development of relevant brochures, videos and infographics.
• Contribute to the development of press releases for printed and online media outlets, especially on the occasion of regional projects’ activities and events.
• Draft or support drafting of blog posts and other externally-facing pieces on emerging trends in relevant field;
• Capture stories which reflect on know how (procedures, processes, tactics) and know why (lessons learned, reasons for failures/success).
• Undertake regular website updates

Research and Data Management:
• Undertake research on relevant initiatives in areas of interest;
• Conduct data collection and analyze data collected
• Conduct desk reviews of existing research and literature on specific area.
• Develop a repository of certain/specific initiatives from the region, with supporting resources such as presentations, press releases, blogs, etc;
• Manage files and online database of related documents in a structured way.

Operations Support:
• Provide administrative and logistical support.
• Support organization of workshops, conferences and retreats in coordination with other staff; support for international participants’ travel and logistics matters;
• Organize travel arrangements, including drawing up itineraries, preparing travel authorization and visa forms, obtaining clearances and signatures, ticket reservations, and processing travel claims.
• Support administration of supply and assets management;
• Collection of information for DSA, travel agencies and other administrative surveys
• Support preparation of specific budgets.
• Assist in preparation of financial and accounting documents;
• Support preparation of documentation for audit.
• Support to organization of procurement processes including preparation of RFQs, ITBs or RFPs documents, receipt of quotations, bids or proposals, their preliminary evaluation.
• Development electronic template and applications to facilitate automation of operations processes.
• Provide help desk services.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:
• Strong sense of collaborative work, excellent communication and interpersonal skills;
• Keen attention to detail;
• Proven record of interest and work in the development field.
• Excellent analytical and research skills
• Research experience;
• Interest in the Arab States region and possibly some background in researching the region;

Core Competencies:
Professionalism:
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills and judgment in applying technical expertise to resolve a wide range of complex issues/problems;
• Ability to negotiate and to influence others to reach agreement;
• Ability to work under pressure;

Communication:
• Speaks and writes clearly, concisely and effectively;
• Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately;

Teamwork:
• Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise;
• Is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda;
• Supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position;

Planning & Organizing:
• Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies;
• Identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required;
• Allocates appropriate amount of time and resource for completing work;

Accountability:
• Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honor commitments;
• Delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards;
• Operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules;
• Supports subordinates, provide oversight and take responsibility for delegated assignments;
• Takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.

Required Skills and Experience

Applicants to the UNDP 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 one-year of graduation.

Experience:

Excellent communication skills; Ability to write clearly and concisely;
Initiative, sound judgment and demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with staff members of different national and cultural backgrounds;
Good command of information and communication technology.
Some knowledge of the Arab region would be helpful.

Languages:

Fluency in English (both oral and written) is required. Arabic and French language skills would be an asset but not necessary.