Background

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action. The overall objective of UNEP's Ecosystems Division is to support countries in conserving, restoring and sustainably managing their terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, the biodiversity they contain and the products and services they provide for human well-being and prosperity. It helps countries develop policies and programmes to respond to ecosystems challenges and reduce pollution from land-based and sea-based activities, increase resilience to climate change and reflect linkages between poverty and environment in their development planning. UNEP’s Source to Sea Pollution Unit plays a crucial role in identifying and acting on the challenge of land-based pollution. The Unit focuses on issues including but not limited to plastic pollution and marine litter, nutrient management, wastewater and physical alteration and destruction of habitat and its activities serve to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, specifically SDG 6 and 14. It also contributes to UNEP’s Medium-Term Strategy 2022-2025, and as well as to the implementation of UNEP’s Chemicals and Pollutions Action sub-programme. The work of the Unit also contribute to the implementation of numerous United Nations Environment Assembly’s (UNEA) resolutions, including for example “Marine litter and microplastics” (UNEP/EA.1/6, 2/11, 3/7 and 4/6), “Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities” (UNEP/EA.4/11), “Sustainable Nitrogen Management” (UNEP/EA.4/14, UNEP/EA.5/2), and “End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument” (UNEP/EA.5/14). To counter the challenges posed by land-based activities, the Unit is implementing the project titled “Protecting the Marine Environment from Land-Based Pollution through Strengthened Coordination of Global Action.” To counter the challenges posed by plastic pollution, the Unit is working toward the Output 3 of the Programme of Work (PoW) project titled “ONE UNEP Plastic Project on Accelerating a Global Circular Plastic Economy to Reduce Plastic Pollution and its Impacts’’, which aims to trigger a systems change to accelerate the safe and just transition towards a circular economy of plastics thereby reducing plastic pollution. This output focuses on enabling and planning actions to address plastic pollution and includes the facilitation of the development of harmonized methodology and tools to assess national baseline, and guide governments and stakeholders to develop systemic and tailored action. Engagement with all relevant stakeholders is also promoted through this output, including through GPML and Global Plastics Hub. The intern will be focused on the work under the Global Partnership on Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter, particularly on Global Plastics Hub daily management and enhancement, funded by the Government of Japan. This includes plastic lifecycle data analysis, bug shooting, small enhancement and monitoring the user engagement. This assignment is within UNEP’s Ecosystems Division, under the direct supervision of the Programme Management Officer leading the development of Global Plastics Hub. The Information Technology and Management Intern will support the successful implementation of the Global Partnership on Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter’s work and the management of Global Plastics Hub.

Responsibilities

• Assist with plastic lifecycle data analysis, by identifying new datasets and recommending optimal approaches for data integration and visualization within the global data map and country dashboards;
• Assist in the optimization and migration of the Global Plastics Hub by learning its architecture and codebase, cleaning outdated and unnecessary data and content and providing technical assistance for migration processes.
• Assist in enhancing the Global Plastics Hub by identifying and resolving bugs and improving functionalities, as necessary, through the day-to-day management of the Global Plastics Hub.
• Assist in monitoring user engagement and conducing user data analysis to improve GPML outreach activities and promote increased use of the Global Plastics Hub.

• Assist with plastic lifecycle data analysis, by identifying new datasets and recommending optimal approaches for data integration and visualization within the global data map and country dashboards;
• Assist in the optimization and migration of the Global Plastics Hub by learning its architecture and codebase, cleaning outdated and unnecessary data and content and providing technical assistance for migration processes.
• Assist in enhancing the Global Plastics Hub by identifying and resolving bugs and improving functionalities, as necessary, through the day-to-day management of the Global Plastics Hub.
• Assist in monitoring user engagement and conducing user data analysis to improve GPML outreach activities and promote increased use of the Global Plastics Hub.

• Data analysis
• Bug shooting
• Technical assistance
• User engagement monitoring
• Data integration
• Data visualization
• Codebase management
• Content cleaning
• Functionality improvement

• Information Technology background
• Management background