Internship - South-South Cooperation on Climate Change

The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) aims to be a robust knowledge hub providing advisory and consulting services to Member States and United Nations entities on South-South and triangular cooperation enabling developing countries to effectively face their leading development challenges and harness global opportunities to address them, in tandem with monitoring progress on implementing the Buenos Aires Plan of Action, New Directions Strategy and the Nairobi Outcome.

UNOSSC engages with the Member States globally, regionally, as well as within the UN system to facilitate practical expressions of Southern solidarity towards the achievement of internationally agreed development goals.  UNOSSC works with a wide range of partners including global centers of excellence to intensively explore how building endogenous capacity be encouraged, how broadening and sharing technological advances within the global South will systematically occur, and how emerging innovative financing mechanisms can be harnessed through South-South and triangular cooperation. UNOSSC ensures that our southern constituencies have timely access to high-quality analytical planning, mapping, programming, and reporting on data, trends and opportunities that will propel South-South and triangular cooperation in ways that ensure success.

In November 2017, the United Nations launched the South-South Cooperation Action Plan for the Secretary-General’s Climate Change Engagement Strategy (2017-2021). South-South cooperation on climate change stands as a consolidated component in the Secretary-General’s climate strategy that has a clear and systematic framework of action plans for its implementation. Under the leadership of Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General and with support from the Member States and the wider stakeholders, the South-South Cooperation Action Plan is the strategic framework that guides the operation and programming activities of the UNOSSC on South-South climate cooperation. With its guidance, UNOSSC has established a concrete roadmap to lead and support the implementation

UNOSSC is looking for a knowledgeable and dedicated intern to support the promotion of the South-South cooperation on climate change.

Under the overall supervision of the Manager of Climate and Sustainability Programme the intern will have the following tasks:

• Collect information and materials for relevant research projects and knowledge products;
• Assist in drafting/consolidating documents/briefs for the team in relation to South-South cooperation on climate change;
• Support the team in developing communication materials, including support for the preparation of policy notes.
• Prepare inputs for articles, blogs for newsletters, UNOSSC website, and web-based platforms on topics of South-South climate cooperation;
• Assist the team in the commissioning of the publication on South-South cooperation on climate change;
• Assist the team in the preparations (both substantive and logistics) for the thematic events; and
• Assist in other outreach related activities of the office.

Any other related tasks that are deemed necessary and appropriate to support the project work.

• Strong interpersonal skills, communication and diplomatic skills, ability to work in a team;
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities;
• Attention to critical details;
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations; and
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• 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); or c) have graduated with a university degree (as defined in (a) and (b) above) in a relevant discipline (international development areas, such as economics, international relations, public administration, international politics, environmental sciences, sociology, or related) and, if selected, must start the internship within one-year of graduation.

Experience:

• Understanding of specifics of the international organizations, particularly UN/UNDP and its tasks and mandate, sharing UNDP’s goals;
• Web and social media experience is an asset.

Language skills:

• Fluent in spoken and written English (Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, or Russian is a plus)
• Excellent communication skills (written and oral) in English are required.

Conditions

• Internships within the UN system are unpaid and subject to conditions with which applicants should become familiar with prior to signing an internship agreement.
• UNOSSC accepts no responsibility for the medical and life insurance of the intern or costs arising from accidents and illness incurred during an internship;
• 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.
• Interns are not financially remunerated by UNDP. The costs associated 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, visa, etc.
• Interns are not staff members and may not represent UNDP in any official capacity
• It is important to note that interns are responsible for their own visa and residence documents, and need to plan for these well in advance

Candidates who are shortlisted for an interview must submit prior to the interview the following documents:

• Official letter from the University confirming the category applicable to the candidate indicated in the paragraph of EDUCATION.

Only the successful candidate will be required to submit the following nine documents:

• A completed UNDP internship application form (http://www.undp-act.org/data/articles/undp_internship_application_form_2008.doc);
• A copy of the applicant’s most recent resume or curriculum vitae;
• A letter from his/her university confirming current enrolment and graduation date;
• A copy of his/her school transcript;
• A letter of recommendation from a professor;
• A signed UNDP Internship Agreement;
• A Medical Certificate of Good Health;
• Proof of medical insurance for the duty station and period of the internship.
• Proof of life/accident insurance valid for the duty station and period of the internship. Any cost arising from accidents and illness incurred during an internship assignment will be the responsibility of the intern.
• Copy of cover page passport and visa for the United States.