National Intern – Policy and Public Finance for Children, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, resilience

UNICEF started operation in Cambodia in 1952 and opened first country office in 1973 in Phnom Penh. More information on what we do in Cambodia is available at https://www.unicef.org/cambodia/.

How can you make a difference?

In 2004, the Royal Government of Cambodia officially launched the Public Financial Management Reform Programme. The reform, led by Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), adopted platform or phase approach having each platform building upon the other and they are inter-connected. The four phases of reform are: (1) building budget credibility, (2) improved financial accountability, (3) improved budget-policy linkages, and (4) improved performance accountability. The first phase was launched in 2004 and the second phase was launched in 2008. The reform is now at stage or phase 4, strengthening performance accountability from 2023-2027. The budget system reform strategy 2018-2025 which is one of the backbones in support of the phase 4 reform and has been updated to 2025-2028 aims to strengthen implementation of performance informed budgeting (PB). This budget system reform was initially piloted as part of line ministry budget since 2007 and was rolled out to all line ministries starting from ten key ministries in 2015 to thirty-eight line ministries/agencies in 2018.

UNICEF has been actively supporting rolling out the programme budget formulation and execution and capacity building of the social ministries since 2014. More than ten ministries benefited from UNICEF support. The technical support provided targeted toward empowering and improving budget allocation and execution of the programme and interventions addressing children needs. Having programme budget in place allowed UNICEF to clearly identify gaps and define interventions aimed at addressing multidimensional child poverty. Public finance analysis tools including budget analysis rely on availability of budget data. UNICEF has been utilizing this budget data to conduct budget analysis and lately conducted first child rights budget analysis to inform policy-budget discussion and enforce implementation of the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. So far, Ministry of Economy and Finance published significant quantity of budget documents in PDF in the website; however, there is a need to do data entry of these budget law and relevant documents into excel based budget database to be used for budget analysis and monitoring on annual basis. UNICEF is looking for an intern to support Policy and Public Finance for Children (PPF4C) Programme in updating budget data (data entry, data structure, and translation from Khmer to English) and some analysis.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Student who graduated from Bachelor’s Degree or in final year of Bachelor Degree or is currently pursuing master’s degree in economics, development studies, social science, and any other relevant field
• Strong interest in public finance management particularly budget analysis and advocacy
• Use of computer software for data analysis and presentation such as Ms. Excel, familiarity with AI tools, Ms. Power Point. Knowledge of other data tools (Power BI), and presentation tools is a plus.
• Good proficiency in English and Excellence in Khmer language
• Possess good communication skills and solid analytical skills- strong commitment and passion for UNICEF’s mission.

The intern should be:

• Familiar with and understand international and/or economic development issues
• Familiar with multi-culture environment would be an asset

Availability:

• Desired role period 6 months, Mon - Fri (full time- 5 days per week).

Conditions of the Internship:

National interns with UNICEF Cambodia may be provided with a monthly stipend of USD 300, subject to the availability of external funding. In addition, interns may receive a one-time reimbursement of up to USD 100 to support eligible costs such as insurance or other internship-related expenses. Where external funding is not available, costs associated with the internship should preferably be borne by the nominating institution, related institution, or government, which may provide the required financial assistance to its students, or by the intern, who will be responsible for securing the necessary financial support and making their own arrangements to undertake the assignment.

UNICEF will cover the cost of official duty travel, where required for the assignment. UNICEF will also provide a laptop, access to office space and facilities, and other necessary equipment and resources required to perform the internship.

Interns are entitled to 2.5 days of leave per month during the internship period. UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive workplace and will provide reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities, where required. Flexible working arrangements may also be available, subject to the nature of the assignment and operational requirements.

Please find the terms of reference for this assignment in the attachment below.

ToR_National_Intern_PFM 2026 - TMS.docx

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are...
(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.