National Internship – Geospatial Data Interns (Open to Malawian Nationals Only)

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, a learning opportunity!

BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does – in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an equal opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favouritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life – in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions – her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens – addressing inequity – not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. Therefore, the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

However, despite decades of strong work in these sectoral areas, inequity remains.  While progress is being made, something different is required to accelerate progress towards not just long term and sustainable development improvements. One method of driving significant impacts for the most vulnerable and excluded children who may still be left behind is to ensure the use of more focused use of data and in particular geospatial data.  Geospatial data helps to unmask disparities by reaching the most remote, and hard to reach areas during both development and humanitarian situations. 

The PPM section of UNICEF Malawi seeks to recruit five (5) national Geospatial Data Interns who are interested to enhance their educational experience through practical work assignments while being exposed to UNICEF’s mandate and operations as well as learning on child rights and equity issues.  The internship programme is also expected to provide Malawi with the assistance of qualified students who specialized in the geospatial data field.  The intern will perform geospatial data management functions and will assist in the implementation of the “4P2C Data Intelligence Node”. He/she will be expected to be an active participant, collaborate, and work among the team who will ensure correctness, timeliness and consistency of information related to geospatial data.  All these should be consistent with the overall goal of meeting the needs and requirements for UNICEF programmes by strengthening geospatial data generation and use that is necessary for planning and programmatic decision making.

OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE OF WORK

The main purpose of the internship programme will be to support the development and enhancement of the intern’s professional and educational experience through practical work assignments, to expose the intern to the work of UNICEF, to as well as to promote learning for the intern on child rights and equity.

The Geospatial Data Interns will be responsible for assisting in the collection, cleaning, processing and analysis of geospatial data to produce useful information products in all the roles and duties to ensure consistency and timeliness.  The intern will be part of the team where certain roles and responsibilities are shared and the objective of the team effort is to ensure convergence, collaboration, and consistency in shared tasks for optimal results.

The intern will ensure s/he produces geospatial products, including familiarizing him/herself with working with both traditional and non-traditional sources of data. S/he should be organized and able to implement and manage geospatial data projects from start to finish. S/he should be able to present technical information and findings in a way that is easily understood by the sector members and the management, such as data visualization, mapping, narrative writing, and in-person communication.

How can you make a difference?

The main responsibilities and tasks will be as follows, among others:  

• Learn new developments in the application of geospatial data and technology to advance child rights and promote equity issues.
• Engage in the timely preparation, maintenance, and provision of geospatial information requested by pillars/sections to which s/he is assigned.
• Collect, process, and evaluate geospatial data including vector, raster and thematic data; create and update geo-databases. 
• Assist in performing quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) on all products generated and disseminated by the Data Intelligence Node, including data and maps.
• Participate in field data collection activities using Global Positioning System (GPS) devices and mobile data collection applications. 
• Assist in drone imagery acquisition, processing and preparation for analysis.
• Provide support to programme monitoring activities, including online monitoring tools. 
• As requested, support with the sharing of geospatial data with office sections, other UN agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and the Malawi Government.
• Produce and update information products such as charts, infographics, maps and thematic profiles to support planning, monitoring, communication, knowledge management and decision-making needs.

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

• Been enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate (Masters or higher) degree programme or be a recent graduate (graduated within the past two years) in the field of geography, natural resources, health and agriculture/aquaculture, computer science, information systems or related subject with a strong component of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).   

• Excellent academic performance demonstrated by recent university or institution records.

• Proficiency in use of geospatial mapping software such as (Google Earth, ArcGIS, ArcGIS Online, QGIS, use of Google sheets, data collection and maintenance experience with good knowledge of Microsoft Excel would be desirable and an added advantage.

• Additional consideration will be given for any experience, specifically, experience in data collection and maintenance experience would be desirable and an added advantage but not a prerequisite.

• Fluency in English is required – both verbal and written.

• Other requirements

  • Applicants must be at least 18 years old.
  • Ability to communicate clearly.
  • Strong analytical and good report writing and presentation skills.
  • Able to demonstrate UNICEF core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability as well as core competencies such as self-awareness and ethical awareness, working collaboratively with others, innovates and embraces change and drive to achieve impactful results.
  • Applicants must have no relatives (e.g. father, mother, brother, sister) working in any UNICEF office and must have no other relatives in the line of authority which the intern will report 

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

To view more information about this internship refer to the attached ToR:

 TOR for Data Interns .pdf

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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:

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