Work Location
In-person, Nairobi, Kenya
Expected duration
6 months
Duties and Responsibilities
Org. Setting and Reporting The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations system’s designated entity for addressing and promoting socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements, development, and the achievement of adequate shelter for all (www.unhabitat.org). Within the Global Solutions Division, The Urban Practices Branch (UPB) is the tools and methodology production and skills centre of the UN-Habitat, that develops normative guidance and cutting-edge tools through communities of urban practice. It provides technical and policy advice approaches and methodologies to Multi-Country Offices/ Country Offices, governments and partners and mainstreams them throughout the programme portfolio. The Branch is the home of several of the Agency’s large global programmes. It also ensures that the cross-cutting area of safety and the social inclusion issues of human rights; gender; children, youth and older persons; and disability are developed and mainstreamed across the Agency. Finally, the Branch also maintains and disseminates UN-Habitat’s repository for knowledge tools, methodologies, and products, in support of the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. The UPB includes five sections/units: The Policy, Legislation, and Governance Section; the Planning, Finance, and Economy Section; the Land, Housing and Shelter Section; the Urban Basic Services Section (UBSS); and the Human Rights and Social Inclusion Unit. The UBSS aims to develop and implement pro-poor policies, norms, guidelines, standards, regulatory frameworks and operating procedures, for expanding access to urban basic services and improve the standard of living of the urban poor, with a focus on Water and Sanitation; Mobility and Transport; Energy; Waste Management; and the application of people-focused frontier technologies for service delivery. The intern will report to the Lead, Water and Sanitation Unit and Urban Mobility Unit of UBSS. The Internship is UNPAID and full-time. Responsibilities • Support the implementation of ongoing water and sanitation projects in close collaboration with the water and sanitation team; • Support reporting, knowledge management, capacity development and information dissemination on water and sanitation; • Support the establishment and management of a functioning online knowledge management system and associated tools for the Community of Practice (e.g. project dashboard) to support internal exchange, learning and communication, which will be consistent with that of other Communities of Practice, likely using Microsoft Teams; • Support preparations for Community of Practice meetings, such as preparing background documents, talking points, PowerPoint presentations and other tools to engage meeting participants in discussion and learning; • In collaboration with other team members, support logistics during webinars and other online meetings and activities; including using Microsoft Teams; • Support reporting efforts related to the Community of Practice activities, such as consolidation of inputs, and producing meeting minutes and/or reports; • Support the organization, cataloguing, and analysis of information contained in communications, submissions, and publications received from different sources (e.g. organizing tools from across the Community of Practice into an online repository); • Carry out mapping and research on selected topics relevant to the content and management of the Community of Practice, e.g. through internal surveys and analysis. • Support effective internal and external communication activities related to the Community of Practice (e.g., preparation of emails, maintenance of membership lists, bi-monthly newsletter and relevant events calendars, etc.); • Respond to various inquiries and information requests; • Provide appropriate revisions for documents including formatting, design, and layout; • Perform other duties as assigned by the supervisor.
Qualifications/special skills
Applicants must at the time of application, meet one of the following requirements: a. Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher), b. Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree program (minimum Bachelor's level or equivalent), c. Have graduated with Bachelor's degree, Masters, PhD or equivalent. Be computer literate in standard software applications (Microsoft Office Suite). Have demonstrated a keen interest in the work of the United Nations and have a personal commitment to the ideals of the Charter. Have a demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which includes a willingness to try and understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views. Preferred areas of study: PhD, MBA, 4th Year Undergraduate, graduate of Sustainable development, Civil/Water/Sanitation/Public Health Engineering, Urban Infrastructure Planning, Environmental studies, education or related area. Applicants to the UN Internship Programme are not required to have professional work experience. However, a field of study that is closely related to the type of internship that you are applying for is required. Applicants must be a student in the final year of the first university degree (bachelor or equivalent), Master’s or Ph.D. Programme or equivalent, or have completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s or Ph.D. Programme. Do you meet any of the above criteria? If yes, please indicate which one and attach proof to the application. Please note that you will have to provide an official certificate at a later stage. Knowledge of urban basic services issues, such as water and sanitation, transport/mobility, urban energy and solid waste management is required. Please explain how you meet this criterion using examples. Computer literate in standard software applications is required. Please explain how you meet this criterion using examples. 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 is desirable. Please explain how you meet this criterion using examples.
Languages
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this internship position, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of another UN language is desirable.
Additional Information
Not available.
Intern Specific text
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. Interns who are not citizens or permanent residents of the country where the internship is undertaken, may be required to obtain the appropriate visa and work/employment authorization. Successful candidates should discuss their specific visa requirements before accepting the internship offer.
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.
