Youth and Trade Intern

Background:

The International Trade Centre (ITC) is a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, focusing in particular on developing the export capabilities of small and medium-sized businesses in developing and transition economies. ITC is 100% "Aid for Trade", supporting trade that delivers inclusive and sustainable development results.

ITC works at three levels:

• Strengthening the integration of the business sector in developing countries and economies in transition into the global economy
• Improving the performance of trade and investment support institutions for the benefit of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), and enhancing the abilities of trade support institutions to better support them
• Improving the international competitiveness of SMEs.

The Youth and Trade initiative:

Within the International Trade Centre, the Division of Sustainable and Inclusive Trade and within the section of Women, Youth and Vulnerable Communities, the Youth and Trade initiative offers specialized solutions, in partnership with relevant institutions, to create opportunities to support youth economic empowerment by reinforcing their skills for employability and entrepreneurship.   ITC manages a global community supporting young entrepreneurs:

• Ye Community, which connects youth entrepreneurs and key ecosystem actors to provide access to resources, tools, opportunities, and networks, to enhance their entrepreneurial capacities.  The overall objective (impact) of the Ye Community is to empower young people with the right skills, networks, and support to build sustainable and impactful enterprises. The Ye Community provides a platform to connect youth entrepreneurs, ecosystem enablers, and experts to one another to empower young entrepreneurs and contribute to sustainable economic development and trade for good.
• The six-pillar offering of the Ye Community includes access to:
• NETWORKING: Seek out business opportunities, co-founders, buyers, partners in our global community  MENTORS: Find a mentor bringing business expertise from finance to logistics
• E-LEARNING: Build skills with e-courses on entrepreneurship and trade as well as webinars and virtual workshops
• OPPORTUNITIES: Join the community to learn about funding opportunities, programmes for enhancing business competitiveness, and global awards, provided by ITC and its partners
• EVENTS: Get connected via events hosted by ITC and partners happening locally and around the world  RESOURCES: Access our complete database of startup tools and country business guides to ensure your business has the right tools and information to succeed.

In-line with the objectives of the ITC Youth and Trade initiative, the objectives of the Ye Community are:  Build more SMEs: Young people are equipped with the right skills, networks, support and finance to become entrepreneurs and/or find gainful employment.  Build better SMEs: Young entrepreneurs have the right skills, networks, support, and access to finance to sustain their entrepreneurial ventures and scale them up to contribute to sustainable job creation.  Youth Ecopreneur Program: The Youth Ecopreneur Program powers the green and just transition by investing in young entrepreneurs as catalysts for sustainable development, environmental justice, and advocacy for climate action. The Program cultivates, accelerates, and amplifies youth-led green business solutions. It will influence policy, raise awareness, and foster social values concerning environmental sustainability. The Program has a special focus on nurturing and catalyzing youth entrepreneurship for sustainable land management and ecological restoration. The Program is centred around the objective of cultivating a new generation of ecopreneurs who view sustainable initiatives as a viable and profitable business endeavor. It will advocate for the importance of green youth entrepreneurship, raise awareness, and foster sustainable land management practices and social values that prioritize environmental sustainability.

Duties and Responsibilities:

A)
Ye Community Management Support

: The intern will support the effective functioning and growth of the Ye Community by performing the following tasks: - Contribute to the operation of the Ye Community and Youth & Trade social media profiles (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), including developing communication materials and curating content, in collaboration with ITC Communications focal points. - Assist in maintaining Ye Community resources, including adding new tools, updating resource sections, and supporting e-learning page improvements. - Support updates to Youth & Trade pages on the ITC corporate website. - Assist in facilitating connections between Ye Community members and external opportunities, events, and resources relevant to the development of their enterprises. - Support the coordination and execution of Ye Community webinars, mentoring activities, and virtual training sessions. - Conduct research on best practices in community management and other topics relevant to the Ye Community's growth and engagement.

B) Results-Based Management (RBM) and Project Management Support:

The intern will assist with project-related tasks to strengthen results delivery and programme coherence, including: - Contributing to periodic reviews of results and providing support to results-based management processes for ITC youth economic empowerment projects. - Conducting research on potential new intervention areas and contributing inputs for the design of new project proposals. - Supporting project managers in coordinating activities with other ITC projects focused on youth.

C) Youth Ecopreneur Programme (YECO) Support

: The intern will provide support to the implementation of the Youth Ecopreneur Programme (YECO) through: - Assisting the project manager in the coordination and implementation of YECO activities, including the Accelerator, Youth Ecopreneur Awards, and alumni engagement. - Supporting the planning and organization of online and in-person events for YECO participants. - Assisting in outreach efforts to programme participants (e.g., email campaigns, WhatsApp groups). - Supporting the preparation of PowerPoint presentations and communication materials. - Assisting with data management tasks. - Contributing to monitoring and evaluation (M&E) efforts by supporting data collection, organization, and documentation. ITC champions workforce diversity, inclusion, gender equality and gender parity and considers all qualified persons - of all genders - equally, including those with disabilities, without discrimination or prejudice of any kind.