New Exciting Format | Introducing Video Pitches | Live Q & A
Challenge Accepted?
WIN Paid INTERNSHIPS & PRIZES AT United nations development programme (UNDP)
5 minutes to defend your team’s VIDEO PITCH. Convince judges & delegates your Team is #1
UNDP’s Development Challenge is an annual team competition for tertiary students who brainstorm solutions to significant development issues.
NEW: This year, we have tossed the live powerpoint pitch format and are going fully visual. Teams will produce short video recordings of their pitch and defend them in a live Q and A before Judges and Delegates on Day 2 of Ready Set Great, on Friday 18 October, 2024.
The winning team secures paid internships at UNDP Multi Country Office in Jamaica plus other prizes. Students compete in mixed tertiary school teams and have five minutes to convince a panel of judges and delegates that their team’s development solution is the best of them all.
Deadline for applications: Tuesday 9 SEP (11:59 p.m. GMT-5). REGISTER NOW
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Who Can Compete?
- Competitors must be nationals of or reside in Jamaica, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands. These are the nation states served by the UNDP Multi Country Office in Jamaica. Please note that while the Development Challenge eligibility is exclusive to five nations, the Ready Set Great Youth in Development Conference online registration is open to anyone anywhere.
- Entrants must also satisfy UNDP’s internship eligibility requirements (refer to section 2 on the right ) at the time of application.
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UNDP Internship Eligibility
2.1 Be enrolled in a postgraduate degree programme (such as a master’s programme, or higher);
2.2 Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (such as bachelor’s degree or equivalent);
2.3 Have recently graduated with a university degree (as defined in (a) and (b) above) and, if selected, must start the internship within one-year of graduation;
2.4 Be enrolled in a postgraduate professional traineeship program and undertake the internship as part of this program.
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How To Enter
- Complete the short Application Form Here: ENTER THE COMPETITION
- Register for the Conference HERE
That’s it! You will receive a confirmation email once registration has been verified and eligibility confirmed. Competitors will be assigned to teams of no more than four students. .
eligible countries
Jamaica, Bermuda Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands.
Other Conditions Apply.
Focus of Development Challenge 2024
Each team of students will work together to pitch an initiative/project solution to end youth poverty focusing on a particular barrier or challenge impacting this age group. Your team decides the issue, focus and solutions.
Development Challenge is a team experience like no other
What Does the Team experience entail?
- Approved challengers will be placed in mixed university teams so they can connect, network, explore ideas, and work on their pitch. Teams decide how, when and often they will meet. They must make accommodation (virtually) for competitors outside Jamaica.
- Teams must agree on a Team name, and appoint a team leader. This must be communicated to UNDP’s organizing team. Photo assets will be featured in promos.
- Teams must submit head shots of each member to UNDP for the production of a video feature introducing the 2024 Teams.
- Teams must present their pitches in video productions of no longer than 3 minutes. We are not looking for production perfection, but communication, clarity and consistency of message and themes. DOWNLOAD GUIDLINES FOR CONSTRUCTING YOUR PITCH. Productions shot with smartphones are perfectly acceptable. Each member of the team must be featured. Team members located outside Jamaica should videotape their contribution which must be integrated into the final production. The video production must be presented by 17 September 2024 to UNDP. A one-page overview of the pitch must also be completed and submitted to the organizing team along with the video.
- The team is required to answer questions from a panel of judges to defend their video pitch live at the conference. At the end of the Q & A, delegates will vote for the pitches and those votes will be calculated by the judges as part of the final score.
- Following all presentations, Judges will go into caucus, and, taking into account the delegates vote as part of the assessment, determine the wining team who will be announced Live at the conference by the UNDP Resident Representative.
- Video pitches on social media garnering the most likes and engagement may win a popular vote prize. Those earning the popular vote prize may not necessarily emerge winner of the Challenge.
Guidelines, Tips, Resources
- Entrants for the Development Challenge must also be registered for the Conference.
- How will judges assess your pitch? DOWNLOAD JUDING CRITERIA.
- DOWNLOAD GUIDLINES FOR CONSTRUCTING YOUR PITCH.
- GET ADDITIONAL INFO VIA OUR FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) PAGE
Prizes
The winning team (tertiary students only) will be awarded paid internships* at the UNDP Multi Country Office in Jamaica, over a period of six months. Students will be assigned to the programmes, operations and communications departments based on their programme of study and their study schedules. *Please note the internship placements are subject to UNDP’s global internship policies, as such any awardee must satisfy the terms and conditions of the programme. Candidates should be located in Jamaica, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands.
