Research Assistant on Anti-Racism in Programming

Contract

This is a Internship contract. It usually requires 0 years of experience, depending on education. More about Internship contracts.

Background

In March 2021, UNDP’s Administrator committed to make UNDP an actively anti-racist organization. Recognizing that the focus to date had been on internal issues, he noted the need to review UNDP’s programmatic offer and how UNDP directly contributes to this agenda. Therefore, a Senior Advisor on Anti-Racism was hired. The Senior Advisor works under the guidance of the senior management of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support and Crisis Bureau, and closely with the Executive Office, the Regional Bureaux and Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy.

Duties and Responsibilities

The research assistant is expected to perform the following tasks, under the guidance of the Senior Advisor on Anti-Racism:

1. Assist in reviewing relevant documents guiding the various policy and programme areas of UNDP’s Strategic Plan to assess how they directly contribute to the fight against racism and racial discrimination;
2. Assist in collecting current anti-racist, anti-discriminatory and other relevant tools in all of the thematic areas and in carrying out an assessment of whether they are adequate to ensure an anti-racist and anti-discriminatory programming;
3. Conduct desk reviews of existing research and literature on anti-racism in development programming;
4. Conduct data collection and analyze data collected;
5. Manage files and databases of related documents in a structured way;
6. Perform various administrative tasks, such as organize and attend meetings, note taking, preparations of agendas and summaries, etc.

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; • Knowledge about racism and racial discrimination.

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.

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; • Takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.

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 postgraduate degree programme (such as a master’s programme, or higher);

(b) Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (such as bachelor’s degree or equivalent);

(c) Have recently 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.

Experience:

Demonstrated experience in working on issues relevant to racism and racial discrimination in desirable.

Languages:

Fluency in English (both oral and written) is required.

Stipend****:

• Where an intern is not financially supported by any institution or programme, such as a university, government, foundation or scholarship programme, a stipend intended to help cover basic daily expenses related to the internship, such as meals and transportation at the duty station, must be paid by the receiving office.
• The monthly amount of the stipend will be determined for each duty station based on the stipend rates published yearly by the OHR Policy and Compensation Unit. The stipend will be paid on a monthly basis and part-time internship arrangements are prorated accordingly.
• Where an intern is financially supported by an institution, government or third party, UNDP will, subject to the rules of such institution, government or third party, pay the intern the difference, if any, between the external financial support provided and the applicable UNDP stipend.
• No other payments of any kind will be made to an intern by the office in connection with an internship agreement.