Internship at United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Indonesia – Innovative Financing Lab

It is my dream to attain working experience in the development sector before I graduate from my master study. However, it is always tricky to get the right offer at the right timing. I was nervous when I had to face the reality that I might not get the internship I want during the long holiday in the summer. But, indeed, God is the best Planner. After I finished performing one month of fasting during Ramadhan, I received an internship offer from UNDP Indonesia. I was thrilled and could not hide my happy face when I was finally able to step my feet on the UN office in Indonesia.

Not only the internship fits my timeline, it also aligns with my interest in social financing. During my two months period of internship, I worked under Innovating Financing Lab (IFL) and primarily worked on Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Accelerator theme. The focus of this team is to establish an ecosystem where impact-driven enterprises and impact-driven investors could collaborate to address the gap in achieving SDGs and provide economically sustainable solutions for Indonesia. I am fortunate as my internship period was during the launching phase of Impact Aim program and I had experiences meeting with the social enterprises who already built profitable and impactful business. During the preparation of Impact Aim program, I was also in charge of drafting the required paperwork such as developing the Impact Aim Term of References (ToR) and budget planning for procurement purposes, preparing a proposal for prospective sponsors, and writing program’s two-pager or brief for potential investors and partners. My supervisor was also very supportive and did not hesitate to share her valuable experiences in scaling up startup businesses. She has provided me with clear overview of background, objectives, and the expected outcomes of the projects and helped me constructing a systematical way of thinking, which is vital in designing a development program.

UNDP Indonesia also provided the best learning opportunities from international experts within UN networks. As I was temporarily part of UN network, I got a chance to join an inspiring training related to Islamic Finance and Impact Investing organized by UNDP Indonesia in collaboration with Ministry of Finance, Global Islamic Finance and Impact Investing Platform (GIFIP), and Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development. From joining this two-days training, I learned that Islamic financing is one of the untapped potential financing channels for development. The speakers and panelists of the programs are truly seasoned in their respective fields, which gives me a new dimension on development finance. My main takeaway from this internship is that various untapped sources to finance development programs, especially from the private sectors, are currently available for further utilization. However, the development agencies, as well as the government, must allocate an enormous effort to assess the feasibility and the implication of the selected approach.

The two months internship is only the beginning of my professional career in the development sector. I am forever grateful for the lessons and training opportunities provided by the UNDP, my supervisors, as well as my colleagues. For others who would like to experience working in development sector, I recommend doing internship with UNDP Indonesia. The hottest issue in development is under UNDP radar, and every day is as inspiring as finishing a best seller book.