Sustainable Finance Research Intern

Contract

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

Background

UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

UNDP's policy work carried out at HQ Regional and Country Office levels, forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy.

In order to streamline its financial and investment engagement, UNDP launched the Sustainable Finance Hub, a finance and innovation platform, that draws on a critical mass of UNDP expertise, initiatives, and partnerships to align public and private capital flows with the SDGs and mobilise finance at scale. The Hub serves as a connector, broker and global coordinator among internal and external actors; curates and manages UNDP's catalogue of service offers on SDG financing to governments, investors and companies, via UNDP country offices, to significantly enhance the scale and impact of UNDP's work.

The Hub is an integral part of both the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS), the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy (BERA), and the Global Policy Network GPN a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains. The Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of U'DP's Strategic Plan. BPPS also 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. Lastly, BPPS supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative, knowledge and data driven including in its programme support efforts. Through the Sustainable Finance Hub, UNDP has been increasing its engagement in global financial and economic policy making, including by carrying out work in different forums (i.e., G7, G20, UN's Financing for sustainable development, etc.) as well as other regulatory and market-based networks. Furthermore, UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub runs the Secretariat of the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG). As such, it assists G20 Presidencies in the implementation of their G20 priorities on sustainable finance.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Sustainable Finance Advisor, the intern is expected to:

Research:

• Develop research content showcasing a strong knowledge and understanding of the sustainable finance policies and regulations within the G20.
• Support in taking stock of a range of international organizations, network and groups initiatives on sustainable finance.
• Compile necessary background information on selected topics (for example related to sustainable finance instruments and regulations, climate finance policies, transition finance, impact investing, etc.) to provide state-of-the art and identify original policy proposals.
• Map researchers and research labs working on topics of interest for the Hub.

Writing & Editing:

• Draft and edit a range of materials, including blog posts, brochures, presentations, and supporting documents for procurement and events.
• Write meeting minutes for calls with external partners (ministry of finance, central banks, international organizations, financial institutions, etc.) and. routine team meetings.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Commitment to UNDP's mission, vision, and values.
• Sensitivity to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age differences.
• Highest standards of integrity, discretion, and loyalty.

Functional Competencies:

• Good interpersonal skills: being able to listen and collaborate with a wide range of players, being able to work independently, being pro-active and taking initiatives but also able to identify threats in social media use.
• Knowledge of finance, and/or sustainable finance is an asset.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

The applicants should meet one of the below Academic Qualification / Education criteria:

a) Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher) in international development or other related fields.

(b) Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor’s level or equivalent) in international development or other related fields.

(c) Have graduated with a university degree in international development or other related field (as defined in (a) and (b) above) and, if selected, must start the internship within one-year of graduation.

Language skills:

• Excellent spoken and written English is required.

Financial Issues:

The intern will receive a stipend of USD1,000.00 per full-time month worked if he/she does not receive any other subsidy / scholarships from other institutions.

Application procedure:

The application should contain:

• Current and complete CV in English.
• Brief Cover Letter (in English) stating interest in and qualifications for the post
• 1 to 2 pages summing-up sustainable finance activities of one of the G20 country (very brief timeline with past achievements, and more detailed descriptions of current flagship activities). The applicant is free to select the country of its choice.

Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Selected candidates will need to submit the following documents:

• Official letter from the University confirming enrolment in clarifying the level degree programme;
• Proof of medical and life/accident insurance valid for the location in which the internship will be carried out. Selected interns must have medical and life insurance.

Conditions:

• UNDP only accepts interns for a minimum of 6 weeks and a maximum of 6 months;
• UNDP accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents, illness or death during the internship;
• Interns are not staff members and may not represent UNDP in any official capacity;
• Interns are responsible to arrange for their own visa and residence documents, and need to plan for these well in advance;
• The purpose of the internship 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.

More information available at: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/operations/jobs/types-of-opportunities/internships.html