Background

The Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (ICPSD) offers a selected group of outstanding graduate-level students the opportunity to acquire direct exposure to ICPSD’s work as a center of excellence for private sector in development. The internship is designed to support ICPSD’s applied research and policy advisory services and to complement the interns’ practical experience in various issues related to private sector engagement, skills generation, private sector resilience, impact investing, and other topics of international development. The Programme operates under the rules and regulations of the UNDP Internship Policy.

UNDP ICPSD leads UNDP’s private sector strategy, mobilizing the private sector to engage in development. ICPSD convenes stakeholders from public and private industry, as well as foundations to facilitate knowledge sharing and partnerships, catalyzes private sector actors for developing products and initiatives for SDG implementation, and provides support to raise capital through innovative financing models such as blended finance.

With the goal of leaving no one behind and building the resilience of a wider category of businesses in disaster-prone, climate vulnerable, conflict-affected, crisis-stricken and fragile countries, states, cities, and communities, ICPSD will complement the work of the UNDP-OCHA Connecting Business Initiative and other global initiatives working with business networks through service offers aimed at engaging, supporting and capacitating various other types of private sector actors (e.g. MSMEs) at multiple levels of engagement and building the resilience of their strategic areas of concentration. These offers will be provided by the ICPSD Resilience and Crisis Response team, which will focus its work on thematic areas such as risk-informed development, disaster early warning and preparedness, climate resilience, and resilient recovery.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Conribute to in-depth economic analysis focused on private sector development, and resilience in fragile, conflict-affected, and disaster-prone contexts;

• Provide writing and editing support on reports, briefs, and knowledge products related to private sector resilience and disaster risk reduction in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.

• Support the organization and facilitation of engaging online and in-person meetings, workshops, and stakeholder dialogues that address resilience and recovery themes;

• Contribute to designing and implementation of initiatives, projects, or programmes;

• Prepare relevant communications materials including success stories, policy updates, and promotional content, to amplify project impacts;

• Assist in the management of social media and web-based platforms and collaborate in the development and execution of online content (webinars, images, infographics, videos, blogs etc.) and campaigns delivered across various social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.;

• Assist with the development and implementation of crisis response and resilience strategies within project frameworks;

• Provide administrative support on an as-needed basis;

Competencies

Technical/Functional Competencies:

• Strong skills in economic analysis, including quantitative methods and tools, with a focus on private sector development, resilience, and disaster risk reduction;

• Proven ability to conduct in-depth research and analysis on economic trends, private sector adaptation, and resilience in fragile and conflict-affected settings;

• Ability to manage workload with minimum supervision and collaborate with a wide range of colleagues while meeting deadlines;

• Excellent interpersonal skills, including active listening and effective collaboration with a wide range of players;

• Flexibility to work both independently and as part of a team.

Personal Competencies:

• Commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision, and values

• Sensitivity to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age differences

• Highest standards of integrity and discretion.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

Applicants must at the time of application meet at least one of the following requirements:

• Be enrolled in a second university degree programme (Master Degree); OR

• Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree program (Bachelor Degree); OR

• Have graduated with a university degree in in fields such as urban planning, disaster management, data science, finance, business administration, development, international relations, law, public administration or similar at least one year ago.

Required Experience:

• Solid experience in academic writing, research, and analysis with a focus on economic trends, private sector development, and resilience.

• Experience with data analysis or statistical software: Excel, SPSS, and similar platforms.

• Experience in managing social media and web-based platforms.

• Experience with sustainable development, fragile and conflict-affected situations, climate, and disaster risk reduction is desirable.

• Demonstrated knowledge in the work of the UN, and of UNDP in particular, and have a personal commitment to UNDP’s Statement of Purpose and to the ideals of the UN Charter.

• Demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs.

• Previous experience on project designing and implementation is an asset.

Language:

• Excellent written and oral English skills a necessary requirement.

ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES

Financial Renumeration:

Interns will be given a stipend according to the UNDP Internship Policies, if they are not financially supported by any institution or programme, such as a university, government, foundation or scholarship programme.

The monthly amount of the stipend will be determined for each duty station based on the stipend rates published yearly by the OHR Policy and Compensation Unit. The stipend will be paid on a monthly basis and part-time internship arrangements are prorated accordingly.

Application Procedure:

The application should contain:

a) Brief Cover Letter (in English) stating motivation, relevant skills and qualifications relevant to the post;

b) Current and complete CV in English;

c) At least one relevant writing sample;

d) Please group all your documents into one single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

The Candidate who is selected will be required to submit the following documents:

a) Official document(s) confirming your education status;

b) Proof of medical and life/accident insurance valid for the location in which the internship will be carried out. Selected intern must have medical and life insurance.

UNDP only accepts interns for a minimum of 6 weeks and a maximum of 6 months. UNDP accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness or death incurred during the internship. Interns are not staff members and may not represent UNDP in any official capacity. It is important to note that interns are responsible to arrange for their own visa and residence documents and need to plan for these well in advance.