Intern: SA SDGI Operational and Secretariat Support

Reports to: Project Manager (AV): SA SDG Initiative (SDGI)

Duration: 6 Months

BACKGROUND

To develop effective policymaking approaches, President Cyril Ramaphosa re-established the Policy and Research Service Unit (PRS) in The Presidency in 2019. This Unit is mandated to analyse and coordinate policymaking, prepare decision-making, support implementation and to provide research results for policy development and political planning. The Presidency of South Africa, the South African SDG Hub at the University of Pretoria (UP) and BMZ (through GIZ) decided in February 2020 to create a partnership. The partnership is designed to unlock the policy impact of the expertise at South Africa’s 26 public universities. It focuses on supporting The Presidency in the attainment of the SDGs and other national development frameworks. Therefore, the aim of the SA SDG Initiative (SDGI) is to strengthen the capacity of the Policy and Research Services unit of The Presidency to use evidence-based policy processes for a strong coordination mechanism, advancing a coherent policy implementation system across government.

On the German side the SA SDG Initiative (SDGI) is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project is part of the newly established Action Field Peaceful and Inclusive Societies. The SA SDGI main objective is to strengthen the PRS by providing scientific knowledge that is generated in South Africa’s academia.

In cooperation with PRS and the University of Pretoria (UP), SDGI established and supports the SDGI Secretariat (an administrative and policy/science interface coordination structure hosted by UP) to strengthen PRS capacity in realising its mandate. 

The SDGI is looking for a good team player with excellent self-management skills for the mutual learning position of an Intern: “SDGI Operational Support”.  The Intern will be part of the SDGI team, with the duty station at the GIZ Offices in Hatfield. 

RESPONSIBILITIES

The intern will be providing technical and operational support to the SDGI project team across all the outputs. This will provide the intern with a vast insight into German Development Cooperation, providing exposure to various SDGI activities and tasks, and importantly, affording a space for critical knowledge transfer and development. 

The Intern will:

  • Assist in the coordination and management of all relevant SDGI core activities (including support to the Presidency and the SDGI Secretariat). 
  • Assist the SDGI team in the organising of technical meetings, workshops, conferences and other events, as may be required;
  • Assist in the general project management in achieving the SDGI objectives.

APPLICATION PROCESS 

Suitable candidates should apply by submitting a motivation letter (1 page) stating why they should be the preferred candidate. This should be accompanied by a detailed CV to: recruit-pretoria@giz.de, the job title must be quoted on the email subject line for the attention of Head of HR.

Closing date for applications is 31 January 2023.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be informed!

Applications without a motivation letter will not be considered!

Full job description download below.