Background

CORPORATE BACKGROUND

As the United Nations lead agency on international development, UNDP works in 170 countries and territories to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities, and to build resilience to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our work is concentrated in three focus areas; sustainable development, democratic governance and peace building, and climate and disaster resilience.

INTERNSHIP OFFICE BACKGROUND

The UNDP Seoul Policy Centre (USPC), established in 2011, represents UNDP in the Republic of Korea (ROK), works with the ROK on international development priorities, and shares development experience and technical expertise of the ROK with other countries. It is one of UNDP’s global policy centres. USPC works as a facilitator of innovative development cooperation for the achievement of the SDGs in four thematic areas of i) development cooperation modalities and approaches, ii) governance and gender, iii) green recovery and transition, and iv) private sector engagement and development.

Building on the unique development experience of the ROK and UNDP’s wide Global Policy Network, USPC facilitates knowledge exchanges of SDG-enabling development solutions in the above-mentioned thematic areas through its signature ‘SDG Partnership’ country-support programme and other initiatives, and brokers partnerships between the ROK and other countries to help tackle development challenges.

The Centre’s private sector engagement and development work is an integral component of USPC’s programmatic work. Working with Korean businesses of all sizes, including impact start-ups, micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), conglomerates and the investment community, as well as the related ecosystem, it aims to leverage the private sector’s innovative approaches and resources for the achievement of SDGs. Examples of our efforts to support developing countries include strengthening the capacity of MSMEs through inclusive digital transformation, with the ROK’s policies and practices as reference, and providing acceleration support to SDG-aligned start-ups in the ROK and other countries.

USPC offers a small group of outstanding final year undergraduate, and graduate students, the opportunity to acquire direct exposure to UNDP’s work and gain technical knowledge and experience in international development and multilateral cooperation.

For more information on USPC’s work, please visit the website: http://www.undp.org/policy-centre/seoul.

Duties and Responsibilities

DUTIES:

The intern will assist in the following duties and responsibilities:

Competencies

COMPETENCIES

• Interest and motivation in working in an international organization;
• Good analytical skills in gathering and consolidating data and research for practical implementation;
• Outgoing and initiative-taking person with a goal oriented mind-set;
• Communicates effectively when working in teams and independently;
• Good in organizing and structuring various tasks and responsibilities;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Responds positively to feedback and differing points of view;
• Strong interest and training in drafting and editing documents;
• Demonstrated interest in the field of development;
• Demonstrated research and analytical capacity;
• Administrative skills in the organizing of meetings and events;
• Proven ability to manage diverse and complex tasks, with tight deadlines;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Candidates must meet one of the following educational requirements:

• Currently in the final year of a Bachelor’s degree; or
• Currently enrolled in a Master’s degree; or
• Have graduated no longer than 1 year ago from a bachelor’s or master’s degree or equivalent studies.

Field of study: international development, international relations, sociology, political science, public administration, economics, commerce, business administration, marketing, or equivalent.

IT skills:

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office productivity tools;
• Familiarity with social media and creative design tools (e.g., Canva, Adobe Photoshop) is an asset.

Language skills:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required;
• Fluency in Korean is highly desirable, and other UN languages is considered an asset.

INTERNSHIP CONDITIONS

• UNDP will not pay interns for the internship but will provide a monthly stipend in accordance with the provisions of the UNDP internship policy (as reference, the stipend for 2024 is set at KRW 1,169,728 per month; the stipend amount for 2025 is subject to change); all other expenses connected with the internship will be borne by the intern or the sponsoring government or institution;
• UNDP accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness or death incurred during the internship;
• Interns are responsible for obtaining necessary visas and arranging travel to and from the duty station where the internship will be performed;
• Interns are not eligible to apply for, or be appointed to, any post in UNDP during the period of the internship;
• Interns must provide proof of enrolment in health insurance plan;
• Interns are not staff members and may not represent UNDP in any official capacity;
• Interns are expected to work full time, but flexibility is allowed for education programmes;
• Interns need to obtain financing for subsistence and make own arrangements for internship, travel, VISA, accommodation, etc.;
• Interns will accrue leaves at a rate of 1.5 days per month and will be granted off-days on official UN holidays for the Republic of Korea. If exceptional leave arrangements are necessary, requests must be submitted to and be approved by the supervisors in advance to ensure adequate office arrangements.