Background
With 45% of Mongolia’s population under 24 years of age1, a youth unemployment rate of 17.4% (2014)2, “more than a quarter of the population still living below the poverty line” in 20122, despite Mongolia having the world’s fastest growing economy in 20111, and an economy heavily dependent on the volatile and non-labour intensive mining sector, Mongolian young people need to take an active role in creating income generation activities for themselves. Mongolia’s start-up community is dominated by an ‘urban elite’, who have typically been educated abroad, and have good English language skills, characteristics not typically found in the broader community. Despite high literacy rates and higher education attainment, “Young people [in Mongolia] do not consider entrepreneurship a viable employment option.”2 This presents a barrier to job creation, economic diversification, and innovative approaches to Mongolia’s development challenges.
The United Nations Development Programme Mongolia Country Office (UNDP CO) is undertaking an innovative project aimed at encouraging young people to pursue entrepreneurship. It is expected this work will provide an essential evidence base:
i) in which to guide the development of a UNDP led youth entrepreneurship program in Mongolia.
ii) to facilitate informed policy recommendations to support youth entrepreneurship, and in turn, reduce poverty and inequalities, and generate economic growth and decent work (SDG 1, 8 and 10).
iii) which will enable the work of stakeholders to be more targeted, resulting in improved cost and time efficiencies, enhanced programming, and improved outcomes.
To enable human centred program design, the project will use design thinking and behavioural insight methodologies to:
i) Identify and map the decision-making pathways and factors influencing income generation choices of young people in Mongolia, and
ii) Design and test interventions aimed at nudging young people in Mongolia to pursue entrepreneurship and social innovation.
Duties and Responsibilities
Objectives and scope of work
Under the general supervision and guidance of the UNDP CO Youth, Entrepreneurship and Private Sector Officer (UNDP CO Project Focal Point), the Activated2030 Project Assistant will provide support functions to enable the management, coordination and delivery of all aspects of the Activated2030 project.
Duties and responsibilities
- Participate in, contribute to, and record project meetings.
- Assist with the coordination of the workflow of a multicultural, multidisciplinary team.
- Support the design of messaging, choice architecture and promotional material for the interventions and project.
- Support the UNDP CO project focal point in the planning and hosting of focus groups, multi-stakeholder workshops and other events.
- Contribute to the design and preparation of project communications, including social media posts, stakeholder communications, and project reporting.
- Undertake basic desktop research and sourcing of information and summarise key points.
- Assist with the collation of qualitative and quantitative data.
- Perform other functions as may be assigned by the UNDP CO project focal point consistent with qualifications and experience.
Competencies
Competencies:
· Highly organised person, sets priorities, produces quality outputs, meets deadlines and manages time efficiently;
· Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
· Ability to present complex issues in simple and clear manner;
· Ability to maintain overview in complex work situations, self-starter;
· Ability to think out-of-the-box and works toward creative solutions by analysing problems carefully;
· Works well in a team to advance the priorities of this project and UNDP as a whole
· Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks;
· Shares knowledge and is willing to provide support to others who request advice or help;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, age sensitivity and adaptability, and is committed to UNDP gender equality strategy; and
- Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassments.
Required Skills and Experience
Qualifications of the successful applicant
Education:
- Enrolled in a final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor’s level or equivalent), or enrolled in a graduate school program, or graduated from a university program within the last 12 months;
Experience:
- Experience in research (online and offline) activities;
- Experience in organising workshops and events;
- Experience with developing communication materials;
- Experience with, and confidence working within a multicultural, multidisciplinary team;
- Experience in using Microsoft Office software package;
- Demonstrated interest in entrepreneurship or youth economic empowerment;
· Demonstrable excellent written and verbal English and Mongolian language skills are essential;
Conditions
- UNDP internship programme does not provide a salary or remuneration for the internship;
- All the expenses connected with the internship will be borne by the intern, sponsoring Government or institution;
- UNDP accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness or death incurred during the internship;
- The intern is responsible for obtaining necessary visas and arranging travel to and from the duty station where the internship will be performed;
- Interns are not eligible to apply for any post in UNDP during the period of the internship;
- There is no expectation of employment with UNDP following an internship;
- Interns must provide proof of enrolment in health insurance plan;
- Interns are not staff members and may not represent UNDP in any official capacity;
- The present ToR may be subject to modification, without changing the overall objective and the scope of work, on the basis of mutual consultations.
Eligibility requirements
1. 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.
Claimer: 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.