The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) is looking to contract two interns from the MENA region as part of its Youth Internship Program, which engages interns from different regions around the world in CIF’s programming.
The CIF Youth Internship program is designed to engage a youth intern for a 5-month period focused on professional development and coaching on climate finance in general and specifically on CIF’s mission and activities. The interns work on promoting youth engagement in CIF’s programs and are supported by CIF’s Stakeholders Engagement (SE) Team.
This year, as we begin to implement the Youth Engagement Strategy (YES) the Team is two youth interns from the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region to support with strategic and operational youth-focused initiatives. The internship will largely take place online, but potential
in-person meetings may also occur. The objectives of the new YES youth strategy include supporting local youth-led climate resilience initiatives, facilitating collaboration with young people, and promoting their vital role in tackling climate change. The YES also aims to increase
the participation of youth in CIF governance by serving as CIF Observers whose role include participating in CIF’s decision-making committees, helping to formulate national climate strategies, and monitoring local climate projects.
CIF Youth Internship Background
CIF began its Youth Internship Program in 2020 as an effort to increase its outreach and involvement with youth worldwide around climate change. The first intern to take part in the program was a Nigerian climate leader, Elohor Oluowo. Elohor helped organize outreach webinars with youth in Africa and started the process of consulting on and drafting the CIF YouthEngagement Strategy (YES).
The second intern to participate in Youth Internship was Daria Chekalskaia, environmental engineer and social media influencer from Russia. Daria helped the CIF further engage with youth in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, as well as represented the CIF in numerous global youth events. She also played a key role in helping to organize several youth consultation meetings on the YES, which was launched during an event at COP 26 in November 2021.
What is the CIF?
Established in 2008, the over $10 billion Climate Investment Funds (CIF) is providing 72 developing and middle-income countries with urgently needed resources to manage thechallenges of climate change and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. While the CIF was
established with 8.4bn pledged from 14 donor countries, it has been able to leverage an additional $52.6bn (for a total of $61bn) from governments, multilateral development banks, andthe private sector. CIF concessional financing offers flexibility to test new business models and approaches, build track records in unproven markets, and boost investor confidence to unlock additional finance from other sources, particularly the private sector and the multilateral development banks. The CIF is made up of four funding programs: the Clean Technology Fund CTF), the Forest Investment Program (FIP), the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), and the Scaling up Renewable Energy Program (SREP).
More than ten years on, the CIF has delivered on its founding ambitions and has been a key player in channeling unparalleled levels of climate finance to developing countries. Globally, CIF investments are supporting 26.5 GW in new clean power capacity; improved energy access for
8.5 million people and over 300,000 businesses; greater climate resilience for 45 million people and 44,000 businesses; and 36 million hectares of more sustainable forests. The CIF’s stakeholder engagement program continues to provide platforms at the global, regional, national and local levels to promote inclusive dialogues on CIF investments and policy directions.
The Youth Interns from the MENA region will be respectively expected to:
1. Intern with the Stakeholder Engagement team
• Assist CIF in implementation of the YES Annual plan, including but not limited to organizing an annual youth climate action summit, creating youth-focused communication materials, etc.
• Support the team with preparation for COP27 in November 2022, including helping to organize a regional outreach meeting in the MENA region prior to COP and organizing a youth event during COP.
• Help coordinate regional youth consultations on topics related to climate action and assist in building a strategic network with key youth organizations in the MENA region.
• Identify institutions/platforms for dialogue with the youth, and as a policy sounding board for CIF programs.
• Support development of knowledge products on gaps on youth engagement in climate action/finance.
• Deliver a final summary report on the internship upon completion.
2. Intern with the CIF Evaluation & Learning Initiative
• Work with the first Intern to assist CIF in implementation of the YES Annual plan, including but not limited to organizing an annual youth climate action summit, creating youth-focused communication materials, identifying institutions/platforms for increased dialogue and engagement with the youth, etc.
• Support the development of an analytical research product to be determined in consultation with the intern depending on skills and interest.
• Work closely with colleagues to identify targeted messaging opportunities and avenues for increased engagement with youth stakeholders in applied research and evaluations.
• Deliver a final summary report on the internship upon completion.
The CIF interns will be expected to start by August 1, for a period of 90 working days spread over 5 months ending on December 31, 2022. A basic stipend will be provided to cover the cost of communications and possible travel.
Qualifications:
• Candidate must be a citizen of a country in the Middle East & North Africa (Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen)
• Candidate must be aged 18-30 years
• Candidate must have basic knowledge and interest in climate finance, and experience engaging in climate action through local leadership, policy advocacy, climate finance, and entrepreneurial initiatives.
• Be fluent in English, be able to communicate via email and WhatsApp, and be familiar with social media.
Application and Deadline:
Interested applicants must send in their CV along with an expression of interest letter to Dora N. Cudjoe (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and Renata Lukasiewicz (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). In the letter of interest please indicate which internship you are applying for, or each would be your first choice if both.
The deadline is June 15, 2022.