Internship – Digital Financial Inclusion for Women’s Economic Empowerment WFP HQ Rome or remote

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

Internship – Digital Financial Inclusion

for Women’s Economic Empowerment

Policy and Design Team of the Cash-based Transfers (CBT) Division

WFP HQ Rome, Italy or remote

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies, and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience.

The position will be based in the Policy and Design Team of the Cash-based Transfers (CBT) Division. The incumbent will be able to join the team in Rome or work remotely. The internship will be for an initial period of 6 months starting from June 2023.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DIVISION:

WFP is the largest humanitarian agency delivering cash to crisis-affected populations. In 2020, cash-based transfers were 37 percent of WFP’s global work program. The provision of unrestricted cash transfers using commercial, financial products and services is growing fast.

WFP believes in an inclusive financial ecosystem that extends the reach of affordable digital financial products and services to all. Within this ecosystem, people, particularly women, should have the required financial and digital capabilities to make informed financial decisions. The private sector should have the right market incentives to expand the reach of its networks and provide innovative solutions.

The Policy and Design Team of CBT is responsible for providing subject matter expertise on emerging and core topics related to cash transfers. We set the normative standards, provide strategic guidance, and focus on equipping Country Office colleagues with the right tools to implement cash transfer operations with impact.

The candidate will be dedicated to helping our team better understand how humanitarian cash transfers and Government-to-person (G2P) payments can support digital financial inclusion and women’s economic empowerment. Specifically, the internship will center on developing our understanding of the barriers that prevent women from accessing and meaningfully use digital financial services.

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Title of Post: Digital Financial Inclusion for Women’s Economic Empowerment Internship
• Supervisor: Gender and Inclusion Advisor- Digital Financial Inclusion for Women’s Economic Empowerment
• Unit: Policy and Design Team/Cash-based Transfers (CBT) Division
• Country: Italy
• Duty Station: Rome, Italy or Home-based
• Duration of internship: 6-8 months
• Expected Start Date: June 2023

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the direct supervision of the CBT Programme Policy Officer, the candidate will perform the following duties at the global and country levels as part of WFP’s work on enabling digital financial inclusion and women’s economic empowerment through cash-based transfers:

• Conduct context-specific research, develop country briefs, information sheets, and other knowledge management materials;
• Collate information from internal country-level studies on the barriers preventing women’s access to digital financial services as well as contextual opportunities to increase women’s participation in the digital ecosystem;
• Support the development of a research piece on digital financial inclusion and social cash transfers, including contributing to various research outputs;
• Support the implementation of the initiative’s learning and capacity development strategy through innovative and dynamic ways of capturing and disseminating information for learning purposes;
• Perform other related tasks as requested by the direct and indirect supervisors.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate programme from a recognized university OR recently graduated from an undergraduate or graduate programme (within six months prior to the application to the internship programme) from a recognized university;
• University course attendance in the past 12 months.

Note: The Programme will recognize candidates’ educational credentials from recognised institutions that have been certified by competent international or national authorities such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) or Ministries of Education.

• Knowledge of humanitarian and development challenges and issues and familiarity with social protection and cash-based transfers;
• Knowledge and understanding of the United Nations and its role in humanitarian and development cooperation;
• Excellent command of English, verbal and writing skills required; working knowledge of a second UN language would be an asset;
• Strong writing, analytical, research, and reporting skills;
• Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) is required;
• The ability to use interactive visual collaboration and digital communication tools is desirable

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS:

• Team player with the ability to work independently with minimum supervision in a diverse, multicultural team;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (written and oral);
• A proactive attitude and a sense of initiative and accountability.
• Ability to work productively and in an organized fashion.

WORKING LANGUAGES

Fluency (level C) in English language is required. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language would be an asset: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or WFP’s working language, Portuguese.

SUPERVISION (Level/Methods of Supervision)

Under the direct supervision of the Gender and Inclusion Advisor – Digital Financial Inclusion for Women’s Economic Empowerment, the incumbent will be provided with close mentoring, guidance, and technical supervision. Performance planning and reviews as well as learning and development discussions will be elemental part of the supervision. With the support of a comprehensive induction package and assignment of a buddy/mentor, the intern will rapidly become a productive member of the team.

TRAINING COMPONENTS

Throughout their assignment WFP interns have access to an industry leading learning platform, weLearn. Depending on opportunities and availability of funds, he/she may participate in WFP workshops or seminars, as appropriate.

LEARNING ELEMENTS

At the end of the assignment, the Intern should:

• Knowledge of WFP’s mandate, its operations, ways of work, and internal consensus building;
• Good understanding of humanitarian and government cash transfer programming in humanitarian and development contexts;
• Good knowledge of how cash transfers can contribute to digital financial inclusion and women’s economic empowerment, including a good understanding of challenges and opportunities across the public and the private sector;
• Knowledge of project design, implementation, and monitoring;
• Developed capacity for evidence-based research and reporting;
• Further strengthened report drafting and presentation skills.

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION

• VA Reference no: 826737
• Closing Date: 16 May 2023 at 11:59pm Rome time

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

• Interns receive a monthly stipend from WFP up to the maximum amount of US$1000 per month depending on the duty station of assignment.
• WFP is not responsible for living expenses, arrangements for accommodation, necessary visas and related costs.
• WFP will reimburse travel ticket for candidates who are nationals of developing countries and are pursuing their studies in their home country.
• WFP will recognize candidates’ educational credentials from recognised institutions that have been certified by competent international or national authorities such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) or Ministries of Education.
• Candidates who bear any of the following relations to WFP staff members are not eligible to apply: sons, daughters, brothers or sisters.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

These are the common standards of behaviour that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.

Different expectations of behaviour are defined depending on your grade and role/responsibilities within WFP.

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications.  WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks. No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.

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