Org. Setting and Reporting

Created in December 1999, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) is the designated focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of efforts to reduce disaster risks and to ensure synergies among disaster risk reduction activities of the United Nations and regional organizations and activities in in both developed and less developed countries. Led by the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (SRSG), UNDRR has over 100 staff located in its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and in regional offices. Specifically, UNDRR guides, monitors, analyses and reports on progress in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, supports regional and national implementation of the Framework and catalyses action and increases global awareness to reduce disaster risk working with U.N. Member States and a broad range of partners and stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, parliamentarians and the science and technology community.

Based in Incheon, the Republic of Korea, UNDRR Global Education and Training Institute (GETI) was established in 2010 to develop a new cadre of professionals in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation to build disaster resilient societies. GETI has a global mandate to provide capacity building support to mainstream disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into sustainable development; convene and support inter-city learning to strengthen resilience; and to provide capacity building and best practice sharing support to national training institutions, national and sub-national governments, as well as stakeholders working on resilience issues. UNDRR GETI is also the global secretariat of the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030).

Co-created by its Core Partners, MCR2030 is a unique cross-stakeholder initiative to accelerate local resilience. It provides a clear 3-stage Resilience Roadmap guiding cities and municipalities towards taking a long-term and continuous approach to resilience investments, from awareness raising to enhanced strategic planning and taking a whole-of-society approach to implementation. MCR2030 aims to create access for local governments to many services and expertise available by urban resilience partners globally and serve as a vehicle for localization of national disaster risk reduction and resilience agenda.

As one of the Core Partners, UNDRR provides suite of tools and knowledge kits such as the Ten Essentials for Making Cities Resilient, the Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities and its addendum, and various training programmes to raise awareness and strengthen capacity of local governments and key stakeholders in disaster risk reduction, contributing directly to the achievement of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and other global frameworks including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris Agreement.

The objective of this internship is to support GETI in its capacity building programmes and technical support especially on the Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities and its application to enhance sub-national capacity on planning for disaster risk reduction and resilience.

This internship is located in UNDRR GETI based in Incheon, Republic of Korea.

The internship is for a minimum duration of two (2) months with an opportunity for extension up to six (6) months. The UNDRR GETI is recruiting one intern to start as soon as possible.

The internship is UNPAID and full-time. Intern works five days per week under the supervision of the Programme Management Officer, capacity development section in GETI.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities will depend on the individual’s background as well as the internship period.

The desired duties include:
• Assist in the development, maintenance and update of UNDRR’s urban disaster resilience toolkits, namely the Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities and its addendums which are available in PDF, excel tool and online formats in multiple languages;
• Support the project on the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities Scorecard Annex, particularly the excel tool development and development and preparation of associated training course;
• Support the preparation, delivery, communication, documentation and evaluation of capacity development training programmes on urban resilience and disaster risk reduction, and utilization of the Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities;

Education

To qualify for an internship with the United Nations, applicants must meet one of the following requirements:

(a) be enrolled in, or have completed, a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);
(b) be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor’s level or equivalent).
Interested candidates must be pursuing or pursued their degree in areas related to this Job
Opening.

In addition, interested candidates must:
• Be computer literate in standard software applications including MS Suite (Word, Excel, Power Point);
• Intermediate to advance skills in MS Excel is an advantage
• Have a demonstrated keen interest in the work of the United Nations and have a personal commitment to the ideals of the Charter; and,
• Have a demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which include willingness to try and understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views.

Work Experience

No working experience is required to apply for the United Nations Internship Programme. Your training, education, advance course work or skills should benefit the United Nations during your internship.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this internship, fluency in English is required; Knowledge of an additional official UN language is an asset. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish are the official languages of the United Nations Secretariat.

Assessment

Potential candidates may be contacted by the hiring team directly if further information is needed during the review of their application. Due to the high volume of applications received, ONLY candidates who have been identified as potential will be contacted.

Special Notice

Interns are not financially remunerated by the United Nations. Costs and arrangements for travel, visas, accommodation and living expenses are the responsibility of interns or their sponsoring institutions.

Completed online application (Cover Note and Personal History Profile) is required.
Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

The cover note must include:
• Date of availability and desired duration of internship.
• Title of degree you are currently pursuing or the latest degree you have achieved.
• Graduation date, in case you are still enrolled in the university programme (When will you be/have graduating/graduated from the programme?).
• IT skills and programmes that you are proficient in.
• Level of your competency with MS Excel application.
• Top three areas of interest.
• Explain why you are the best candidate for this specific internship.
• Explain your interest in the United Nations Internship Programme.

In your online Personal History Profile, be sure to include all past work experiences, IT skills, and three references.

There should be no expectation of employment by the United Nations upon completion of the internship.

Interns are responsible for all internship-related expenses that they incur. The United Nations accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness incurred during an internship. Therefore, upon award of an internship, interns are responsible for securing adequate insurance coverage and are required to sign and return a statement confirming their understanding and acceptance of these conditions of service.

A person who is the child or sibling of a staff member shall not be eligible to apply for an internship at the United Nations. An applicant who bears to a staff member any other family relationship may be engaged as an intern, provided that he or she shall not be assigned to the same work unit of the staff member nor placed under the direct or indirect supervision of the staff member. For purposes of this instruction, “child” means (i) the child of a staff member; (ii) the child of the spouse of a staff member (stepchild); and (iii) the spouse of a child of a staff member or a staff member’s spouse (son- or daughter-in-law). “Sibling” includes the child of both or either parent of a staff member and the child of the spouse of a parent of a staff member (that is, also half- and step-sibling).

United Nations Considerations

According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment.

Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.

The paramount consideration in the appointment, transfer, or promotion of staff shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. By accepting an offer of appointment, United Nations staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and assignment by him or her to any activities or offices of the United Nations in accordance with staff regulation 1.2 (c). In this context, all internationally recruited staff members shall be required to move periodically to discharge new functions within or across duty stations under conditions established by the Secretary-General.

Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage.

The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.

Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.