The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Representation Office in Brussels, Belgium has a position for a qualified intern for a period of 6 months, starting 18th August, 2015.

Background

UNDP partners with national governments and people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crises, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. Active in more than 170 countries and territories, UNDP offers a global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. UNDP helps countries to build and share development solutions in the following four main areas:

1. Sustainable Development

2. Democratic Governance and Peacebuilding

3. Climate and Disaster Resilience

In all its work, UNDP works to ensure the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women, minorities and the poorest and most vulnerable.

The Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) reflects the strong nexus between migration and development. Implemented by UNDP Brussels in collaboration with IOM, ITC-ILO, UNHCR, UNFPA, UN WOMEN and UNITAR, the programme represents a major innovation as a first joint UN project of its kind not only with the European Commission and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, but also in its approach to inter-Agency working.  Since 2013, the programme has been focusing on the local dimension of migration and development and seeks to maximize the potential of migration for local development through the delivery of targeted support to local authorities and non-state actors.

Specifically, the programme will address three areas of intervention:

- Moving from isolated and individual approaches towards more structured forms of interventions through promising initiatives from local authorities in partnership with civil society organizations in selected countries that are being scaled up to maximize impact on local development. Policy options and definition of road maps for action will be drawn from the experience of the supported initiatives;

- Reinforcing the capacities of selected local administrations to effectively link migration and development, with a specific focus on facilitating increased coordination within local authorities’ administration in order to maximize their ability to grasp the potential of migration for development;

- Connecting local authorities globally with each other and with other stakeholders and facilitate partnerships (between local authorities in countries of origin and destination of migration, migrant and refugee associations, the private sector, the social partners etc.) to reinforce local authorities’ potential to become active players in the field of migration and development.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of Cécile Riallant, Programme Manager, the intern shall perform the following tasks:

• 
  Conducting research on Migration and Development issues;


• 
  Collecting and cataloguing information, lessons learned and good practices from the selected projects;


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  Assisting in the running of the M4D Net and JMDI’s social media through:

1. 
   the preparation of newsletters, blogs, e-Discussions or any other knowledge products,


2. 
   summarizing traffic on the knowledge networks;


3. 
   researching responses to queries;


4. 
   uploading documents on the knowledge portal www.migration4development.org;


5. 
   Updating and feeding content.

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  Drafting and consolidating various documents (articles, reports, concept notes etc);


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  Assist in the organization of conferences, forums, or other collaborative events;


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  Assist in the mapping and reporting of activities of local authorities in migration & development, in developing countries and in the European Union;


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  Assisting in the follow-up, monitoring (from Brussels) and reporting on M&D actions implemented in target countries;


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  Assisting in the preparation of briefing notes and presentations when required;


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  Drafting responses to inquiries;


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  Any other tasks as needed.

Competencies

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  Strong organizational and research skills;


• 
  Excellent analytical, communication and writing skills;


• 
  Excellent interpersonal skills;


• 
  Demonstrated keen interest in the work of the UN/UNDP;


• 
  Computer proficiency in standard software applications (MS Office, Excel, Word, Powerpoint);


• 
  Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modelling the UN/UNDP’s values and ethical standards;


• 
  Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Eligibility and skills

Education:

Candidate must be a student, enrolled in a graduate-level degree programme at the time of application and during the internship. Candidates that have graduated are not eligible for internship.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English and French. Additional official UN language an asset (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish).

How to Apply

Interns’ Expenses/Arrangements:

Please note that interns are not financially remunerated by UNDP. All costs connected with an intern’s participation in the programme must be borne by the student, who will have to obtain financing for subsistence and make his/her own arrangements for travel (including to and from the office), visas, accommodation, etc.

Subsequent Employment:

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.

Application Process:

The application must contain the following materials (NB: incomplete applications will not be considered):

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  Motivation letter specifying reasons why candidate is seeking the internship and what is expected from the experience;


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  Curriculum Vitae;


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  Official letter from the University confirming enrollment and specifying expected graduation date;


• 
  Attached completed UNDP Application Form for Internships.


• 
  Only those candidates who are shortlisted will be contacted for interview.


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  Before being offered a Letter of Acceptance for Internship, the selected candidate will have to provide the following additional documents:


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  A Medical Certificate of Good Health from a recognized physician. If the intern is expected to travel outside the country of their residence, other than to Europe and North America, the physician must indicate whether s/he is for to travel and has the required inoculations for the country to which they are to travel;


• 
  Proof of both Medical and Life Insurance cover valid for the duration of the internship programme.

Visit the 'Jobs' section on our website to know more about the JMDI and this vacancy.