What It Does: It drives global change by developing policies, leadership criteria, partnerships, and institutional skills to help countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Mission: UNDP’s mission is to act as a bridge between countries and the resources they need to end poverty, fight inequality, and protect the planet.
Size and Presence: Around 1,918 employees in the United States with its headquarters in New York.
Best Known For: UNDP is the largest UN development aid agency helping countries attain the Sustainable Development Goals and achieve a better life for everyone.
The good bits: UNDP builds a community of purpose with its employees providing an agile background for world-class collaboration, innovation, and lifelong learning to form an extremely good work culture.
The not-so-good bits: Responsibilities are held to a high standard and there are loads of variations in roles.
The UNDP was formed as part of the United Nations Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance in 1966 by the General Assembly of the United Nations.
More than five decades after its creation, UNDP has done exactly what it set out to do and more. To foster development in about 170 countries and territories, they act as the linking bridges between governments and the resources necessary to give everyone a better life.
They have highlighted 17 Sustainable Development Goals that will foster human development and help maintain a healthy planet and help governments mainstream these goals into their national agenda.
Thanks to their commitment to converting goals into tangible results, they have assisted over 70 million people in 36 countries to enjoy services essential to life. About 40 million people in 25 countries have also gained financial support to raise their quality of life.
Due to the world-leading role the UNDP plays in global development, they have developed a culture of trust and a commitment to the highest ethical standards to perform excellently on all fronts. They understand that success in their work means comfort for millions hence they provide brilliant support to employees in all aspects of their careers.
UNDP strives to foster a work environment that is exciting with lessons in teamwork enjoyed every day with collaboration with the most successful organizations serving as the icing on the cake.
UNDP has won many awards for innovation and gender-responsive evaluations. A testament to the great dividends its culture provides is displayed in the millions they influence with an improved quality of life.
Humanitarian, innovative, and world-leading, UNDP attracts the best talents and the best people. Graduates and internship hopefuls in search of positions in UNDP explore a vast collection of recruitment information in the employment category of the global website.
After identifying positions that suit the graduate or intern qualification, they can proceed to create an application profile providing all the relevant information. The chosen candidates would be interviewed and have their references checked.
To deliver the best candidates in quality and character, UNDP makes use of a unique competency framework.
The first part of the competency framework is; cross behavioural competencies to explore behavioural innovations and cross-functional competencies to explore the level of behavioural adequacy needed to function in multiple roles.
The next two parts of the competency framework are people management competencies for successful management in leadership positions and technical competencies.
After completion of all application segments, an employment offer is made to the selected candidates. A role in the UNDP would see graduates or interns take on a world of innovation bolstered by a plethora of forward-thinking teammates providing exceptional growth with results to show for it.
UNDP’s tagline empowering lives, and resilient nations extends to their culture and the support they provide for employees. They offer a structured, supportive, and well-disciplined career path for employees to see them flourish in their roles.
Interns at UNDP also get to enjoy a direct feel of the community’s mission and work processes. They are exposed to diverse roles depending on their academic interests and enjoy a wealth of knowledge from industry-leading professionals.
They allow employees to take on career paths that match their aspirations and act supportively, placing the right tools along to enhance and support career decisions.
Entry-level employees are offered $80,000 annually while interns are paid $13,327 annually.
Founded for the sole purpose of making the world a better place, UNDP makes tangible social contributions. UNDP has enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with the United States. They have contributed to fighting corruption, fighting violent extremism, resolving complex crises, and providing safe habitable communities.
UNDP also supports the economy of the United States as they procured goods worth $72.4 million from retailers in all U.S states. This patronization led to increased support for local businesses hence supporting the economy.
In 2015, India accused the UNDP of deliberate neglect of developing nations claiming that this neglect would hamper the realization of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. It was interpreted at the time as the UNDP being against the growth of developing nations.