Background

CORPORATE BACKGROUND

As the United Nations lead agency on international development, UNDP works in 170 countries and territories to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities, and to build resilience to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Our work is concentrated in three focus areas; sustainable development, democratic governance and peace building, and climate and disaster resilience.

 

INTERNSHIP OFFICE BACKGROUND

The UNDP Seoul Policy Centre (USPC), established in 2011, represents UNDP in Korea, works with Korea on international issues, and shares Korea’s development experiences with other countries. It is one of UNDP’s seven global policy centres. USPC works as a facilitator of innovative development cooperation for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in four thematic areas of i) development cooperation modalities and approaches, ii) governance and gender, iii) green recovery and transition, and iv) private sector engagement.

 

Building on the unique development experience of the Republic of Korea and UNDP’s wide Global Policy Network, USPC facilitates knowledge exchanges of SDG-enabling development solutions in the above-mentioned thematic areas through its signature ‘SDG Partnership’ country-support programme and other initiatives, and brokers partnerships between Korea and other countries to help tackle development challenges.

 

USPC work on environmental issues started in 2017. Since then, it has evolved to encompass different processes, work-streams and partnerships. USPC has worked on projects related to waste management, wastewater management and sustainable energy. Currently, the Resilience team is focused on the sustainable forestry programme with partnerships in Mongolia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The team has also started three new partnerships this year with two projects on community forestry and one project on forest fire prevention and management.

 

USPC offers a small group of outstanding final year undergraduate, and graduate students, the opportunity to acquire direct exposure to UNDP’s work and gain technical knowledge and experience in international development and multilateral cooperation.

 

For more information on USPC’s work, please visit the website: http://www.undp.org/seoul-policy-centre

 

Duties and Responsibilities

The intern will assist in the following duties and responsibilities:

No.

Duties and Responsibilities

% of Time

1

Assist and Support to Resilience Activities

  • Conducting research and producing publications on various issues of international development cooperation such as Sustainable Development Goals, Korea’s development experiences (e.g., on sustainable forestry), environment & green economy issues, green recovery & green transition topics including Korea’s Green New Deal;  
  • Providing support in organization meetings and events including international conferences, workshops, webinars, study visits, — including drafting of the concept notes, coordination with co-organizers in Korea and abroad, support on the logistical & travel arrangements and substantive preparations along with note and photo-taking and technical support including at webinars;  
  • Designing & implementing pilot projects and partnership activities to share with developing countries Korea’s specific experience;
  • Documenting, translating and packaging Korea’s development experience and lessons learnt with an international perspective as a basis of knowledge exchange and triangular cooperation;
  • Translating publications, papers, web content and other materials from English to Korean and vice-versa;
  • Supporting administrative and communications tasks as necessary in the day-to-day office operation;
  • Liaising with partners – in the UNDP HQ, Regional hubs, UNDP Country Offices as well as various governments, non-governmental organizations and academia on various aspects of programme implementation; and
  • Providing holistic support in every aspect of the office and staff members in any other important tasks such as the high-level visits from UNDP headquarters and partner countries;
  • Supporting communications and advocacy infrastructure (website, social media channels, media presence, public outreach) to ensure effective advocacy on the main areas of work of the USPC as relate to resilience work.

 

90%

2

Other:

  • Support other/ad hoc activities as seen relevant and needed.

 

10%

Competencies

  • Interest and motivation in working in an international organization;
  • Good analytical skills in gathering and consolidating data and research for practical implementation;
  • Outgoing and initiative-taking person with a goal oriented mind-set;
  • Communicates effectively when working in teams and independently;
  • Good in organizing and structuring various tasks and responsibilities;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Responds positively to feedback and differing points of view;
  • Demonstrated interest in the field of development, particularly in the area of development cooperation;
  • Demonstrated research and analytical capacity;
  • Administrative skills in the organizing of meetings and events;
  • Proven ability to manage diverse and complex tasks, with tight deadlines;
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.

 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Candidates must meet one of the following educational requirements:

  • currently in the final year of a Bachelor’s degree; or
  • currently enrolled in a Master’s or PhD degree; or
  • have graduated no longer than 1 year ago from a bachelor’s or master’s degree or equivalent studies.

 

Field of study: environmental policy/env. science/env. engineering, natural resource economics, economics, climate science, international studies or related area.

 

Experience:

  • Prior experience with government policy work, international development projects, policy research, and Korean-English translations would be an asset.

IT skills:

  • Knowledge and a proficient user of Microsoft Office productivity tools.

 

 Language skills:

  • English required;
  • Knowledge of Korean and other UN languages is an advantage.

 

INTERNSHIP CONDITIONS:

  • UNDP will not pay interns for the internship but will provide a monthly stipend in accordance with the provisions of the UNDP internship policy (as reference, the stipend for 2022 was set at KRW 1,099,827.96 per month; stipend amount for 2023 subject to change); all other expenses connected with the internship will be borne by the intern or the sponsoring government or institution;
  • UNDP accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness or death incurred during the internship;
  • Interns are responsible for obtaining necessary visas and arranging travel to and from the duty station where the internship will be performed;
  • Interns are not eligible to apply for, or be appointed to, any post in UNDP during the period of the internship;
  • Interns must provide proof of enrolment in health insurance plan;
  • Interns are not staff members and may not represent UNDP in any official capacity;
  • Interns are expected to work full time but flexibility is allowed for education programmes;
  • Interns need to obtain financing for subsistence and make own arrangements for internship, travel, VISA, accommodation, etc;
  • Interns will accrue leaves at a rate of 1.5 days per month and will be granted off-days on official UN holidays for the Republic of Korea. If exceptional leave arrangements are necessary, requests must be submitted to and be approved by the supervisors in advance to ensure adequate office arrangements.