Hello and a warm welcome to this virtual conversation. My name is Jean-Luc Marcelin and I work with -
- the United Nations Development Program. I am based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
But as you can imagine, our activities are really all around the world.
So I'm not going to talk about Copenhagen. I'm just going to talk about the UNDP as a whole.
Some of the information I will share also applies to other UN organizations.
Because UNDP is one of the many agencies which are part of the UN system.
And oftentimes the way we seek young talent or try to attract talent to the organization -
- is similar to what other UN organizations would do. Of course there are flavors, and when it comes to UNDP -
- as you may or may not know, UNDP is an agency which tries to do sustainable development.
Working with governments and implementing policies that will allow long-term development -
- with a balance between all factors. Economic, environmental and democratic factors.
It may sound obvious that you ned these three factors to go hand in hand in order to achieve long-term development.
But not all actors do take such a comprehensive approach to their work.
Because there are also some other priorities that may be more acute on a specific topic.
UNDP looks to the bigger picture and the long-term.
I believe this is extremely exciting, but this also leads to challenges in the sense that -
- it is more difficult to implement long-term impacts of policies rather than just trying to change a specific situation.
More specifically, we have a roadmap. The sustainable development goals, SDGs.
And I'm certain you are familiar with the SDGs. If you are not, I would strongly encourage you to look into them.
Because this is the very first step towards understanding how development work works and how UNDP operates.
Within the SDGs, UNDP has six signature solutions. I have already mentioned the three main pillars.
And under these pillars there are what we call signature solutions. These are basically the programmatic activities we focus on.
Political action is one, governance is another, and environment and climate change is the third.
Energy is also a signature solutions, so if you are more of an engineer type of person working on access to electricity -
- or sustainable energy et cetera, we also have job opportunities there.
We also have a lot of activites together with UN Women and other partners on gender.
So if you work on gender empowerment or you are interested in gender studies there are also jobs there.
And then the last signature solution, number six, is crisis prevention and resilience.
Because UNDP is very much involved with governments and local society in trying to ensure that -
- manmade catastrophies or natural catastrophies can be avoided through various setups.
I cannot go into detail, of course, in such a short presentation. But I would encourage you to follow UNDP on social media -
- and its website et cetera. In particular when it comes to specific things you are interested in.
UNDP is a large partner. Our workforce is one of the big ones when it comes to the UN.
If you take away the peacekeeping missions post which sometimes group many thousands of soldiers -
- but in terms of workforce, UDNP has around 80 000 staff members and we are basically locatedin most countries.
In developing countries, basically all of them, and also in quite a few headquarter locations -
- og region offices.
For example, we had a presence in Oslo with the Oslo governance center.
Also we have a visitation office in Oslo. It's not big offices depending on the countries.
But we are really all over the world. our network is quite large.
When it comes to nationalities we have basically most nationalities except maybe for a few here and there.
The diversity element is extremely important. We have both a local presence, working with local partners -
- governments, civil societies implementing our activities.
We have regional presence in five hubs covering more or less the five continents.
Where the activities cover a region. And then we have our headquarters which is in New York.
In the Unites States, and also some outpost headquarters units like in Copenhagen or Geneva.
Again, a lot of information can be found on the job site or the website of UNDP.
But also if you look at the latest yearly activity report that has just been launched a few months ago -
- covering 2020. It takes time to gather all the information. It is a very interesting read if you want to know more about UNDP.
When it comes to working with UNDP there are three main messages I want to convey.
The first is that working with UDNP means you are joining a community of purpose.
You are joining an organization that values input from all stakeholders, including us, across the UN family.
You're not just choosing a job. You're really choosing a community of collaboration.
Of people working together with a shared sense of purpose. I know it sounds fluffy, but it really is a community of purpose.
We really believe that. It's not just any job.
It's a job where you need to believe in being able to make changes for the greater good.
Because it is challenging. You will sometimes face drawbacks.
Situations where you work for many many years on the project and then some situation makes the program not that successful.
So you really need to believe that it's possible to make a change together.
In order to be efficient and satisfied with the job.
It's also a job where innovative thinking and creative input is encouraged.
Of course, we are a large organization with public money so we have to justify, to report.
We have a lot of different layers which forces us to take action in a certain way.
However, innovative thinking and next-generation thinking is a critical element for UDNP to retain pertinence.
And to make sure it enables its mandate. So we live in a very fast-changing world -
- and we have to make sure we also evolve in the way we think and in the way we partner.
The third point is peronal growth. In the sense that UNDP does offer quite a package -
- when it comes to professional development, but also personal development.
In the sense that we have career developments report, there are opportunities for continuous learning and improvement.
And just the fact that working with UNDP involves being exposed to so many different situations.
There is a huge personal growth when it comes to intercultural understanding and interpersonal connection.
In terms of profiles we look for, I already mentioned the programmatic profiles linked to the signature solutions.
Poverty, reduction, governance and energy and environment, gender, et cetera. Everything I just mentioned.
But UNDP also hires experts in more operational types of work such as communication, procurement, human resources, finance.
Monitoring, evaluation, et cetera. So if you're more on that part of the spectrum -
- it is also possible to find opportunities in UNDP.
What is critical is to make sure your CV is geared towards the type of jobs and requirements we're looking for.
Often when I talk to students and other talent or mid-level or even senior talent I meet people who have the motivation and drive -
- to work with UN and UNDP, but who may not have the perfect CV. And we do need people to have some requirements in the CV.
So what are these? Typically, depending on the level of position you apply for -
- the requirements will be different.
But oftentimes you will need a few years of experience in a developing country.
So if you have the opportunity to work with an NGO it's always good for your CV.
There will also usually be a need for a second UN language. That's not always the case, but often having French or Spanish -
- or Arabic, sometimes, can be a huge asset against people who only have English.
We also need people who have a minimum number of years of experience.
Depending on how senior the position is. Typically, if you want to work in an international position -
- in the UNDP, a minimum of two years of experience are required.
In other words, your first job within UNDP or the UN system, for that matter -
- it would usually be with an NGO or an embassy or even in the private sector, maybe a consulting firm.
Or maybe academia. As long as it is relevant to the type of position you apply for, this is fine.
One last thing. I do believe quite a few of you are Norwegian nationals.
We have a partnership with the Norwegian government on something called the Junior Professional Officer Programme.
It does require two years of experience, so if you are still a student it can not be the case for you yet.
But have a look at the JPO programme. For Norwegians it's one of the best opportunities to get into the UN system.
Lastly, internship opportunities in UNDP are paid with a stipend and they are totally decentralized.
They are available on our job sites in case this is something you would like to explore during your studies.
I have to stop here because we are reaching the time limit for this presentation.
But I look forward to talking with you during the two hour sessions that will take place later today or during the day of this event.
Thank you very much and thank you for being interested in joining UNDP.
All the best.