Background and Organizational Context
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP: we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.
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.
The Internal Displacement Solutions Fund (IDSF) is a United Nations financing mechanism established to catalyse nationally led, development-oriented solutions to internal displacement. The Fund supports governments, Resident Coordinators and UN Country Teams to move beyond short-term responses and advance durable solutions that improve access to housing, livelihoods, services, documentation and social protection for internally displaced persons and displacement-affected communities.
IDSF provides targeted catalytic financing to help countries strengthen national leadership, develop and implement solutions strategies, improve data and evidence, and connect initial investments to larger-scale public, bilateral and multilateral financing. The Fund also supports learning across its country portfolio and generates evidence on approaches that can be replicated or scaled.
IDSF is seeking an intern to support the day-to-day work of the Secretariat, with a particular focus on development finance, quantitative analysis, data management and economic research.
Duties and Responsibilities
The intern will work under the direct supervision of the IDSF Secretariat and in close coordination with Secretariat colleagues and country-level partners. Responsibilities will include the following:
1. Development Finance and Resource Mobilization Analysis
- Support analysis of financing opportunities relevant to durable solutions, including domestic public finance, multilateral development bank engagement, bilateral financing, private-sector participation and blended-finance approaches.
- Conduct desk research on development finance trends, fiscal space, public investment, economic inclusion and financing models relevant to internal displacement and fragile contexts.
- Help maintain trackers on donor engagement, financing instruments, country pipelines, budget allocations, downstream financing and catalytic results linked to IDSF-supported programmes.
- Support the preparation of briefing notes, donor materials, slide decks and analytical inputs that communicate the IDSF investment case and catalytic financing model.
2. Data Management and Economic Analysis
- Collect, clean and organize quantitative and qualitative data related to the IDSF portfolio, country contexts, displacement trends, financing flows and programme indicators.
- Support the development and quality assurance of Excel trackers, dashboards, data tables and visualizations for internal management, donor reporting and strategic communications.
- Assist with analysis of country-level displacement, macroeconomic and development data to identify trends, investment needs, financing gaps and opportunities for scaled solutions.
- Support efforts to assess and communicate the potential economic and social returns of investments in durable solutions, including links to employment, poverty reduction, public services and local economic development.
- Support consistency and quality control across country updates, annual reporting, results frameworks and donor-facing materials.
3. Research, Country Support and Secretariat Coordination
- Prepare background research on priority countries, including displacement profiles, macroeconomic conditions, public finance landscapes, multilateral development bank portfolios and relevant government strategies.
- Assist with requests from Resident Coordinator Offices and UN Country Teams involving financing, data, economic analysis or pipeline development.
- Support meeting preparation, note-taking and action tracking for financing-related consultations, donor discussions and coordination meetings.
- Provide ad hoc analytical and administrative support to the IDSF Secretariat as needed.
Competencies
Functional Competencies:
- Strong analytical and quantitative skills, including the ability to work accurately with structured datasets and financial or economic information.
- Strong research skills and the ability to synthesize technical material into clear, decision-useful outputs.
- Strong attention to detail and the ability to maintain reliable trackers, datasets and analytical products.
- Demonstrated interest in development finance, economics, public policy, international development, internal displacement or fragile contexts.
- Good command of information and communication technology, particularly Excel and PowerPoint; familiarity with data-visualization or statistical tools is desirable.
Core Competencies:
- Professionalism: Demonstrates sound judgement, initiative, reliability and the ability to work under pressure.
- Communication: Speaks and writes clearly, concisely and effectively; listens to others and responds appropriately.
- Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues from different functions, organizations and cultural backgrounds.
- Planning and Organizing: Identifies priorities, manages multiple assignments and delivers outputs within agreed timelines.
- Accountability: Takes ownership of responsibilities and delivers work to agreed standards of quality and timeliness.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
Applicants to the UNDP internship programme must, at the time of application, meet one of the following requirements:
- Be enrolled in a postgraduate degree programme (such as a master’s programme or higher);
- Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (such as a bachelor’s degree or equivalent);
- Have recently graduated with a university degree, as defined above, and, if selected, start the internship within one year of graduation; or
- Be enrolled in a postgraduate professional traineeship programme and undertake the internship as part of this programme
Experience:
- Academic background or demonstrated interest in economics, finance, development finance, public policy, statistics, data analytics or a related field.
- Strong analytical and quantitative skills, with demonstrated ability to work with Excel and structured datasets.
- Experience conducting desk research, literature reviews, financial or economic analysis, data cleaning or data visualization is desirable.
- Familiarity with public finance, multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, donor financing, results frameworks or investment-case development is an asset.
- Experience with Power BI, Tableau, Stata, R, Python, GIS, advanced Excel or other analytical tools would be an advantage.
- Knowledge of internal displacement, durable solutions, fragile contexts or humanitarian-development collaboration would be helpful.
Languages:
Fluency in English, both oral and written, is required. Knowledge of another UN official language would be an asset.
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 will be paid by the receiving office.
- The monthly stipend amount will be determined in accordance with applicable UNDP internship policies and duty-station rates. Part-time internship arrangements will be prorated accordingly.
- Where an intern is financially supported by an institution, government or third party, UNDP will, subject to the applicable rules, pay 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 the internship agreement.
- Interns will accrue combined sick and annual leave at the applicable monthly rate, prorated for part-time arrangements where relevant. Any accrued leave not used by the end of the internship will be forfeited.
Application Procedure:
- The application should contain (i) brief Cover Letter (in English) stating why you would like to be considered for the internship; and (ii) current CV (in English). Please combine the above into one single PDF document as the system only allows uploading of a single document.
In case an applicant is successfully selected, s/he will be requested to provide electronic versions of the following documents upon selection:
- Copy of most recent curriculum vitae;
- Letter from university confirming current enrolment and graduation date, or;
- Copy of recent graduation certificate;
- Letter of recommendation from a professor;
- Copy of school transcript;
- Copy of passport;
- Medical Certificate of Good Health;
- Proof of medical insurance cover.
Disclaimer
Important information for US Permanent Residents ('Green Card' holders)
Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment.
UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.
Applicant information about UNDP rosters
Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.
Non-discrimination
UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.
UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.
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