Policy and Advocacy Intern – Climate and Security Risk (Remote/office based)

Background

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

The multidimensional nature of climate change creates far-reaching consequences not only for the environment but also for development and, ultimately, for the security of people, communities and states. While climate change does not cause violent conflict in and of itself, it can multiply risks that contribute to insecurity, overburden state capacity, and make already vulnerable communities more susceptible to threats.

In the past 15-20 years, these interlinkages between climate change, prevention and sustaining peace have received a growing amount of attention both among researchers and increasingly also in policy circles. In the Security Council, for instance, a landmark Presidential Statement from 2011 (PRST/2011/15) paved the way for more regular engagement on this topic and set the stage for a series of formal outcomes over the past two years recognizing the adverse impact of climate change on stability and calling for “adequate risk assessments and risk management strategies by governments and the United Nations.”

While the debates on the climate-conflict nexus have extended beyond causality and contextual pathways, how climate action may contribute to peace, stability, and security in conflict-affected and fragile contexts needs to be better understood and documented. Communities suffer a “double exposure” and “double vulnerability” to climate change and conflict, viz extant socio-, economic- and political factors which make them vulnerable to conflict and also leave them susceptible to climate change.

Addressing climate-related security risks represents a strategic focus on delivering innovative and cross-cutting approaches to promote climate action and sustaining peace for UNDP, the largest implementer of climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the largest conflict prevention and peacebuilding portfolio in the UN system. UNDP’s Climate Security Offer leverages the expertise of UNDP’s Global Policy Network on climate, environment, peace and security, and also builds on the Climate Security Mechanism’s work to: 

1. Climate-proof prevention and peacebuilding, 
2. Ensure peace-positive mitigation and adaptation, 
3. Deliver integrated approaches to climate action and sustaining peace, and 
4. Strengthen the capacity of regional entities and cross-border approaches to address climate-related security risks.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Team Leader - Climate Security Risk, the intern shall perform, inter alia, the following tasks:

Tasks assigned may include one or more of the following:

• Assisting with policy and advocacy work, including collecting data from projects, drafting, formatting, and proofing communications materials, success stories and event invitations
• Support the collection of information related to policy and programme support, analyse the information and develop a short compendium of good programming and policy practices in climate, peace and security
• Assist in other basic research i.e., collecting, analyzing and presenting statistical data and other information gathered from diverse sources
• Support data analytics visualizations and prepare infographics/factsheets
• Drafting posts to promote events, publications, and content featured on UNDP’s social media accounts
• Assist in administrative and substantive support to meetings and events, preparation of background documents and presentations, handling logistics etc.
• Support other/ad hoc activities as seen relevant and needed.

Requirements: 

• Experience in conflict prevention/peacebuilding, climate change, climate security and/or related areas;
• Demonstrable understanding of issues related to international development, climate change, security, peacebuilding and/or resilience;
• Experience of working in a field office is desirable;
• Demonstrable excellent written and communication skills;
• Ability to take initiative, work independently, work under pressure and meet tight deadlines; and
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work as a part of a team, sharing information and coordinating efforts within the team. 

Competencies

Corporate:

• Commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter and the UNDP Statement of Purpose.
• Demonstrated interest and motivation in the field of development;
• A desire to work with people with different language, national and cultural backgrounds.

Functional: