UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Hope

The Office of Emergency Programme (EMOPS) provides strategic and coordinated support to Country Offices preparing for and responding to humanitarian crises, in collaboration with Regional Offices, to ensure that they have the right capacities to respond effectively and deliver on its Core Commitments to Children in Humanitarian Action (CCCs). EMOPS leads efforts to ensure that UNICEF’s role in complex emergencies and natural disasters is clearly defined, that the organization is properly equipped to fulfil that role, and that all levels of the organization are prepared to deliver our mandate.

The Risk Analysis and Preparedness Section in EMOPS (RAPS) main purpose is to support UNICEF in being ready to meet the CCCs in humanitarian emergencies and thus to contribute to UNICEF’s general ability to assess and adapt to a multitude of risks. RAPS’ aim is to help UNICEF be best prepared and impactful in saving and protecting lives, and in reducing countries and populations’ fragilities and children’s vulnerability around the world towards reaching the SDGs.

RAPS serves as the strategic and technical leader in risk analysis and emergency preparedness, spearheading efforts to embed preparedness throughout UNICEF and the program planning cycle. Within this framework, the Geospatial Information System (GIS) unit assumes a critical position, providing specialized expertise in geospatial risk analysis. Geospatial Risk Analysis involves integrating spatial data on hazards, vulnerabilities, and socioeconomic factors, and visualizing and analyzing the geographic relationships to identify high-risk areas, estimate potential impacts of the crisis, track how crises may spread, assess logistical challenges, examine recurring disaster hotspots, locate vulnerable populations, and map existing response capacities. This spatial perspective and ability to think geographically facilitates risked-informed decision-making regarding preparedness investments, resource allocation, and strategic response planning for children in need. To support this work RAPS is seeking an intern.

How can you make a difference?

Main duties and responsibilities:

The intern, under the supervision of the Emergency Specialist (Geospatial Risk Analysis), will be responsible for:

Data Management and Processing

• Clean, process, and document geospatial datasets from domains such as natural hazards, climate, conflict, public health emergencies and UNICEF operations.
• Collaborate with team members to perform quality assurance on data to ensure accuracy and reliability.
• Integrate processed geospatial data into GeoSight.
• Learn the data standards and models used in the GeoSight platform and RAPS emergency mapping templates.

GIS Analysis and Visualization

• Produce maps, dashboards, and visual products to communicate insights on risk analysis and preparedness.
• Assist in developing customizable GIS-based analysis models and workflows.

Knowledge Management

• Document and store maps and associated metadata in a standardized format to facilitate easy discovery and access.
• Assist in developing knowledge products such as use cases, guidelines on the use of Geosight and general geospatial analysis.

Training Support

• Contribute to developing training materials and facilitate related workshops.
• Collect feedback received from training participants to improve quality.

Product Tracker

• Assist with geospatial product trackers to enable monitoring and planning.
• Help ensure trackers have accurate and up-to-date progress

Other Responsibilities

• Collaborate with team members on ongoing initiatives, offering support as required.

Benefits to Intern:

The intern would be able to:

• Gain knowledge about geospatial risk analysis in a humanitarian context
• Build understanding of how geospatial tools and technologies informs emergency preparedness
• Gain hands on experience in using GIS applications (ArcGIS Pro, QGIS) and programming languages (R, Python) for geospatial data management, visualization and risk analysis
• Gain access to various professional networks within UNICEF (Young UNICEF, for example)

Minimum Requirements: (Standard for ALL internship advertisement):

•       Letter of verification from the college or university that the intern is currently enrolled in an undergraduate school and has completed at least two years of full-time studies at a university or equivalent institution towards the completion of an undergraduate degree (if the candidate is 18 years old, this replaces the two-year bachelor’s completion requirement); or, Graduate Degree Program (i.e., Master’s, PhD).  It should also state the expected graduation date.  Recent graduates are allowed until 2 years after degree completion.

•       Copy of their most recent official transcript showing excellent academic performance

•       Copy of Identification Card (ID)

•       One letter of signed recommendation on letterhead or from professional email address

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Current enrollment in a graduate program such as Geography, GIS, Urban Planning, Environmental Science, or a related quantitative field. Or a recent graduate (completed degree within the past year) from a bachelor’s program in one of the above fields.
• Basic understanding or experience with geospatial data and tools (ArcGIS Pro, QGIS). The ability to use Power BI or any other Dashboard visualization tool is an asset
• Ability to learn and adapt quickly to different tasks and software within the geospatial domain.
• Verbal and written communication skills to assist in documentation and training support.
• Attentiveness to detail is crucial, especially in data cleaning and management tasks.
• Willingness to collaborate with team members on various ongoing initiatives and projects.
• Passionate about humanitarian relief, climate change, or related domain
• Fluent in English (written and oral); intermediate knowledge of any additional UN languages (French, Arabic, Spanish, Russian) is an asset

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…
(1) Builds and maintains partnerships(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness(3)Drive to achieve results for impact(4)Innovates and embraces change(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity(6)Thinks and acts strategically(7)Works collaboratively with others.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks: 

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates are encouraged to apply.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.