IO/UNS Newsletter [03/24/22]

Dear IO/UNS Community, 

Please note, next week on March 30th from 1:00pm-2:00pm we are hosting Ms. Jane Connors, the UN’s first Victims’ Rights Advocate (VRA), who will join us in-person. Join us for Towards Transparency, Accountability & Justice: The Role of the UN’s Victims' Rights Advocate. There are still spots available to attend in-person!

In this newsletter, you will find:

• Event Recaps
• New MiA Blog Post
• What We’re Listening To
• IO/UNS Student Spotlight
• Events at SIPA and Beyond
• Internship Opportunities

**Please note this message is clipped. You can open the message in a new browser to see full event and internship listings.

Cheers,
Daniel, Nate & Yun
IO/UNS Specialization Team

Event Recaps

In the last few weeks, we have hosted a handful of exciting events.

On March 9th, 20 UN experts from a number of differenct agencies and over 120 SIPA students met during the annual International Organizations and UN Roundtable Conversations networking event. In small breakout rooms, students discussed with experts UN career trajectories, necessary skills and specific programs, ranging from peace and sustainable development over gender, climate, and human rights to data analysis and private sector partnerships. We are already excited to host this event again next Spring.

On March 21––the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination––Teddy Keya, Senior Programme Management Officer (antiracism) in the UN’s Department of Management, Strategy, Policy and Compliance, shared insights into the UN's first strategic action plan on addressing racism. Mr. Keya was chiefly involved in coordinating the activities of the Secretary-General’s Task Force on Addressing Racism and Promoting Dignity at the United Nations Secretariat and highlighted key challenges and recommendations for the work of the UN. UNDP's Tiffany Moore shared observations from similar work at UNDP and her blog Moving the needle on racism inside UNDP. The discussion was moderated by SIPA Professors Jenny McGill and Daniel Naujoks and saw the active participation of 40 students and faculty, who had come to the in-person event, as well as more than 40 online attendees. For those who missed the event, you can watch the recording here.

Yesterday, on March 23rd, Professors Susan Allen and Amy Yuen presented key findings from their new book Bargaining in the UN Security Council. Loraine Sievers, one of the foremost experts on the workings of the Security Council and former Chief of the UN Security Council Secretariat Branch, provided insightful comment in a discussion that was moderated by Professor Daniel Naujoks.

While most discussions on the Council focus on its composition or on the special privileges of the five permanent members, in Bargaining in the UN Security Council: Setting the Global Agenda, Susan Allen and Amy Yuen draw on their recently published book to show how the institutional rules allow less powerful Council members to influence the content of resolutions. An in-depth view of the day-to-day negotiations and working modalities reveals a much-needed realistic understanding of how international organizations operate.

Jane Connors, Victims' Rights Advocate (VRA) for the United Nations and UN Assistant Secretary-General shares what the UN and the VRA are doing to put the rights and dignity of victims at the forefront of the UN’s efforts to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse. Ms. Connors will provide insights into how the VRA supports the integrated, strategic response to victim assistance in coordination with UN actors responsible for assisting victims across the entire UN system. Ms. Connors is scheduled to attend in person. 

Established in 1951, IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental, and non-governmental partners. IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing services and advice to governments and migrants.

The IT assistant intern will be based at IOM Tunis and will work under the overall supervision of RMO and the direct supervision of the ICT assistant in IOM Tunis, the successful candidate will have to perform the following specific tasks: Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

1. Provide end user support to IOM staff in Tunis and sub offices in Tunisia, including remote and direct support and troubleshooting and ensure that all ICT Issued tickets and queries are logged and resolved appropriately in a timely manner.
2. Escalate tickets to the IOM ICT focal point in Tunis when necessary, before escalating to Global Support.
3. Support the Installation and re-location mission’s hardware and equipment, including software installation and upgrade of users’ computers, Printers, scanners and other hardware/software in line with IOM ICT standards, policy and guidelines.
4. Assist the provision of ICT training to staff/users in close coordination with ICT Assistant to ensure productive use of existing systems and ICT tools.
5. Assist to maintain an IT inventory of active and retired equipment to maintain mission ICT inventory, documentation and tracking systems.
6. Support users to access ICT resources in the mission.
7. Any other task that can be assigned by the supervisor.

To apply, please visit the job posting here.
 

Bajo la supervisión directa de la Jefa de Suboficina, el/la Intern Asistente de Suboficina Tijuana, apoyará en las siguientes actividades:

Principales Funciones / Responsabilidades:
• Dar seguimiento a proyectos de la Sub Oficina, así como recopilar y sistematizar información mediante la elaboración de minutas, informes y reportes derivados de las reuniones con éstos.
• Seguimiento con contrapartes sobre temas relevantes para la población de interés.
• Apoyo en la implementación de actividades a los diferentes programas y unidades.
• Elaboración y actualización de directorio de contrapartes, actores y socios.
• Monitoreo de medios en temas de interés para la Sub Oficina y la población migrante.
• Enlace con otros programas y Sub-Oficinas de OIM, agencias, fondos y programas del Sistema de Naciones Unidas.
• Otras actividades que el encargado de la suboficina le asigne.

To apply, please visit the job posting here.

The IOM Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) in Bangkok, Thailand, covers 40 countries across the Asia and Pacific region: https://www.iom.int/asia-and-pacific. ROAP’s key responsibilities are to formulate regional strategies, processes and programmes in line with the overall priorities and policies of the Organization and to provide strategic and programmatic guidance and support to countries within its region. Six Regional Thematic Units are based at ROAP to fulfill this responsibility, covering issues including Emergency and Post Crisis and Disaster Risk Reduction, Labour Migration and Human Development, Immigration and Border Management, Migration Health, Migrant Protection and Assistance and Counter Human Trafficking and Migration, Environment and Climate Change. IOM activities that cut across these areas include the promotion of international migration law, research, policy debate and guidance, protection of migrants' rights, migration health and the gender dimension of migration.

The Regional Project Support Unit (RPSU) coordinates and facilitates RO support to country offices (COs) in project development, M&E, and project reporting.

Supervision and Internship Modality
Working under the overall supervision of the Regional Project Development Officer (RPDO), and the direct supervision of the Regional Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) officer in IOM Regional Office for the Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok the intern will support the RPSU for the smooth implementation of ongoing work.

Core Functions/Responsibilities:
The successful candidate will have the following duties and responsibilities:

1. In coordination with the Regional M&E Officer, assist in creating and updating a repository of Monitoring and evaluation tools for use by country and regional projects.
2. Assist in analysis and visualization of data on M&E trends to enable RPSU, country offices and RO management make informed decisions on ongoing projects.
3. In consultation with the Regional M&E Officer and the M&E focal points, assist in managing the regional evaluations tracker and performing quality assurance functions during data collection, entry, and storage.
4. Assist in planning and tracking of M&E capacity building calendar, as well as completing and maintenance of M&E training database.
5. Assist in capacity building on data capture and analysis for routine monitoring data using excel and other data analysis tools, including developing and orienting staff on data visualization systems including Power Bi and excel.
6. Assist in consolidating simple guides for retrieval, collation and use of data from institutional platforms for monitoring and reporting purposes.
7. Support RPSU to improve knowledge management by creating and maintaining a repository of knowledge products from M&E processes and assist in disseminating of such information to relevant audience in collaboration with regional communication unit and country offices.
8. Assist in developing and administering survey tools for M&E processes in the region.
9. Assist in drafting and finalization of RO Bi-annual and annual monitoring reports.
10. Assist with any other duties as required in the Regional Support Unit.

To apply, please visit the job posting here.

Under the overall guidance of the team, the intern will:

• Assist the communications team in updating the website, including page-level content, official documents and other requested updates.
• Assist in digital communications campaign planning.
• Develop text and research imagery for social media posts.
• Assist in developing multimedia content, such as graphics, photography and audio/video editing.
• Support to OPGA event planning, and other communications duties during high-level events.
• Perform other duties assigned by the communications team, as needed.

To apply, please visit the job posting here.

In January 2020, the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs launched the Innovation Cell, an interdisciplinary team dedicated to helping the Department and its field presences to understand and explore, pilot, and scale new technologies, approaches, and practices in conflict prevention, mediation and peacebuilding. Examples include predictive data analytics, strategic foresight, remote sensing and innovation methodologies. Responding to the Secretary-General’s call on the UN system to accelerate its uptake of innovative methods, the Innovation Cell catalyses innovation in peace and security, while providing a forum for colleagues at UNHQ and in the field to engage collaboratively in human-centred design and problem-solving.

The Innovation Cell intends to recruit two interns. Depending on the pandemic, the internship can be in-person or remote. The internships do not carry any payment or retribution expectation. Interns work remotely five days per week (35 hours) under the supervision of a staff member.

The UN Capital Development Fund makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 46 least developed countries (LDCs).

UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development.

UNCDF pursues innovative financing solutions through: (1) financial inclusion, which expands the opportunities for individuals, households, and small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in the local economy, while also providing differentiated products for women and men so they can climb out of poverty and manage their financial lives; (2) local development finance, which shows how fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance can drive public and private funding that underpins local economic expansion, women’s economic empowerment, climate adaptation, and sustainable development; and (3) a least developed countries investment platform that deploys a tailored set of financial instruments to a growing pipeline of impactful projects in the “missing middle.’’

UNCDF is seeking an intern to be part of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications Unit (PPC) in its Headquarters located in New York, United States. Working under the guidance and supervision of the Head of PPC, and working closely with PPC staff, the intern will support the ongoing workplan and goals of the unit, including but not limited to expanding partnerships; preparing policy briefs for high level meetings; supporting the launch of major initiatives on blended finance and enterprises in Africa; and building and maintaining a base of knowledge about Member States.

The Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS) internship is for two months with an opportunity for extension, depending on the needs of the department. For more information, please see here.

Interns work five days per week (35 hours) under the supervision of a staff member in the department or office to which they are assigned.

Follow the IO/UNS Specialization on
CampusGroups, Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp.

Feel free to reach out to us:
Daniel Naujoks, Interim Director, daniel.naujoks@columbia.edu
To book office hours, click here.

Yun Liang, Program Assistant, yun.liang@columbia.edu
Nate Edwards, Program Assistant, nke2113@columbia.edu