Intern – Data Analyst for the Small Island Developing States

Background

UNDP works in some 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results. Inclusive growth, better services, environmental sustainability, good governance, and security are fundamental to development progress. We offer our expertise in development thinking and practice, and our decades of experience at country level, to support countries to meet their development aspirations and achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development is a joint initiative by the Government of Singapore and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which aims at identifying and co-creating technological solutions for sustainable development. The Centre curates partnerships, identifies solutions and connects partners and innovations with UNDP’s global network of Country Offices and development partners.

UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) is responsible for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages; represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, South-South, SIDS-SIDS and Triangular cooperation initiatives; and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. BPPS assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results-based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working. BPPS supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative as well as knowledge and data driven through its programme support efforts.

UNDP is committed to Small Island Developing States (SIDS), working to connect the UN global processes to regional and local development priorities and supporting and advocating for SIDS-specific development solutions. With a broad country presence, UNDP has a major organizational investment and a multi-sectoral programme portfolio in SIDS. UNDP was at the forefront of the Third International Conference of SIDS in Samoa in September 2014, with BPPS playing a key role in the preparations of the Conference and actively following up on actions identified in the outcome document, SAMOA Pathway. One of the outcomes in the UNDP Strategic Plan 2018-2021 is tailored to give special attention to “capacities developed across the whole of government to integrate the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement and other international agreements (including the SAMOA Pathway) in development plans and budgets, and to analyze progress towards the SDGs, using innovative and data-driven solutions.” UNDP is committed to support SIDS through a global framework, consisting of three main pillars: Climate Action, Blue Economy and Digital Transformation. Through strategic partnerships and advocacy, UNDP aims to bridge gaps and create a network between SIDS and other key stakeholders. UNDP supports SIDS governments to build capacity — institutional, policy, technical — which enhances regional support the implementation of international normative standards and commitments in their own countries.

UNDP has a large portfolio on digital transformation and digital solutions for sustainable development through the Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development as well as strong focus on digital transformation under the policy advisory and programmatic focus on Small Island Developing States. As a new component of the UNDP SIDS Offer "Rising Up For SIDS", the SIDS Data Platform is a new digital tool for accelerating development in SIDS by providing policymakers, research institutions, and country offices with access to updated, standardized, and comprehensive data. The visualization and analytics features of this platform will help SIDS to respond to the SAMOA Pathway and the 2030 agenda by rising up to the urgent challenges of climate change and their green and blue transition. By focusing on the needs of SIDS, this tool has been designed specifically to feature datasets about Digital Transformation, Blue Economy, and Climate Action. There are three main types of data within the SIDS Data Platform, including country-level development indicators, geospatial data, and data on the UNDP portfolio of projects and investment in SIDS per SDG and SAMOA Pathway Priority. Automated analytics and machine learning tools within the platform provide development actors with the ability to explore correlation between datasets, identify high-risk areas within countries, and visualize regional development opportunities. To this end, UNDP is seeking to recruit an intern to support these efforts jointly, including supporting the engagement campaign built around the SIDS Data Platform.

Duties and Responsibilities

The intern is expected to support in the next phase of development of the SIDS Data Platform. Reporting jointly to the Director of the Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development and the Senior Principal Advisor for Small Island Developing States, the intern is expected to deliver the following support:

Support the ongoing technical development of the SIDS data platform
Support the development of an engagement campaign for the SIDS data platform to begin integrating the data product and analysis and visualization tools with policymaking in country offices, government ministries, and research and educational institutions
Help in the development of capacity-building courses and training workshops on data science, including organizing datathons and open data challenges
Support the development of an open-source branch of the data platform designed as a tool for SIDS stakeholders to build their open digital solutions
Support in the documentation of the data platform
Support the communications and knowledge management capacities of the team
Support the data analytics technical effort as well as the creation of a set of data publications and documentation to accompany the SIDS data platform for a public release
Support the SIDS portfolios’ and efforts of the Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development on an ad hoc basis as tasks arise

Competencies

Competencies

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
Strong organizational, analytical, reporting and writing abilities;
Strong data analysis and visualization skills;
Results driven, able to meet targets/deadlines;
Capacity to plan, prioritize and deliver tasks on time;
Creative thinking ability;
Highly organized and an ability to work independently;
Excellent analytical, writing and communication skills;
Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Experience:

Experience in data analytics, statistics, and data science methodologies
Experience with data visualization including Tableau, Power BI, d3, R, and other modern tools
Experience with using country-level indicators and multidimensional indices
Experience in statistical analytics for international development
Voluntary / internship experience in conducting research in international development or related field
An understanding of development issues pertaining to SIDS is an advantage;
Good knowledge of United Nations System is desirable
Written and spoken proficiency in English is a prerequisite.

Field of studies:

Statistics, Mathematics, International Development, Data Science, Geographic Information Systems, Computer Science, or related fields.

Education:

Interns are selected on a competitive basis. Applicants to UNDP internships must at the time of application meet one of the following academic 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 programme (minimum Bachelor’s level or equivalent)

(c) Have graduated with a university degree (as defined in (a) and (b) above) and, if selected, must start the internship within one-year of graduation.

(d) be enrolled in a postgraduate professional traineeship program and undertake the internship as part of this program.