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).

The UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub (SFH) brings together UNDP’s financial expertise to harness public and private capital for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)- supporting governments, investors and businesses in reaching climate, social impact and sustainability targets. Its work drives systemic change towards a sustainable financial architecture that benefits people and the planet.

Through the SFH, UNDP has been increasing its engagement in global financial and economic policy making through the work carried out in regulatory and market-based networks and different forums (I.e., G7, G20, UN’s FfD process, etc.). UNDP has been assisting the G20 Presidencies in the implementation of their G20 priorities, including by providing the Secretariat of the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG) since 2021 and housing and convening the implementation mechanism for the G20 Sustainable Finance Technical Assistance Action Plan (TAAP). The TAAP is a key initiative endorsed by the G20 leaders at the New Delhi Summit 2023 to enhance capacity building, raise awareness for sustainable finance, and strengthen efforts towards implementing the G20 SFWG Transition Finance Framework.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is seeking interns to conduct research supporting the implementation of the G20 Technical Assistance Action Plan implementation as well as other G20 SFWG duties. The intern will focus on collecting, organizing, analyzing and presenting qualitative and quantitative data from various online sources to inform the TAAP implementation and other G20-related engagements.

Duties and Responsibilities

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

Data Collection and Integration:

• Develop and implement data collection strategies, including but not limited to web scraping, API integration, and manual data gathering, to compile information from relevant websites, databases, and online resources related to sustainable finance capacity-building initiatives.
• Collaborate with the mapping team to identify key data points and information to be collected, such as program titles, descriptions, target audiences, delivery methods, and topics covered.
• Clean, preprocess, and organize the collected data to ensure accuracy, consistency, and compatibility with the mapping database structure.
• Assist in the integration of the collected data into the comprehensive database of sustainable finance capacity-building initiatives.

Data Analysis and Validation:

• Conduct exploratory data analysis to identify patterns, trends, and insights within the collected data on sustainable finance capacity-building initiatives.
• Support the mapping team in validating and updating the collected data through periodic checks and comparisons with other data sources.
• Assist in the analysis of the mapping results to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities in the current capacity-building landscape for scaling up sustainable finance.

Data Visualization and Reporting:

• Create visualizations, dashboards, and reports to effectively communicate the findings and insights derived from the collected data on sustainable finance capacity-building initiatives.
• Contribute to the development of presentations and other communication materials to share the findings of the mapping exercise with relevant stakeholders.

Documentation and Knowledge Sharing:

• Contribute to the documentation of the data collection, analysis, and visualization processes, including the development of user guides, scripts, and methodologies.
• Participate in knowledge sharing sessions and collaborate with other team members to exchange ideas, best practices, and lessons learned related to data analysis and mapping of sustainable finance capacity building initiatives.

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.
• 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.

Required Skills and Experience

1. Current enrolment in a graduate program (Master’s or Ph.D.) in a relevant field such as computer science, data science, economics, or a related discipline. Or having graduated with a university degree in international development or other related and, if selected, must start the internship within one-year of graduation.
2. Strong programming skills in languages commonly used for web scraping, such as Python, R, or JavaScript.
3. Experience with web scraping tools and libraries, such as Beautiful Soup, Scrapy, or Selenium.
4. Familiarity with data cleaning, preprocessing, and database management techniques.
5. Knowledge of data formats such as JSON, CSV, and XML.
6. Excellent problem-solving and debugging skills.
7. Familiarity with sustainable finance concepts and frameworks is a plus.
8. Strong attention to detail and ability to work independently and as part of a team.