NEW INITIATIVE: UNDP Country Accelerator Labs Network

These labs will accelerate development impact and augment existing capabilities of the Multi Country Office. Creating a network of Country Accelerator Labs offers a unique opportunity to test new approaches for addressing complex development issues. Labs offer a ‘safe’ space where partners can explore unconventional and even radical ideas to inspire change and create new opportunities. This lab is an investment to generate strategic arguments for doing development differently and renewing UNDP’s capacity to address frontier challenges. UNDP Iraq Country Office was selected for being among the 60 UNDP Accelerator Labs!

The Country Accelerator Labs are a three-year global initiative with a high level of ambition, driven by an innovative approach built on the best of current thinking. The initiative responds to the widespread recognition that business-as-usual will not take us to the world we want in 2030 and beyond, and that the development community looks to organizations like UNDP to propose new ways of operating that radically reimagine and shape 21st century development.

The Labs will use three protocols – solution mapping, experiments and collective intelligence - to surface and reinforce locally sourced solutions and to dramatically expand the set of options to solve problems. Through direct innovation and texting and network learning, the network of labs will provide the opportunity to create a variety of paths to address any given goal at scale and in many locations. The success of this institution-wide innovation initiative depends on mobilizing a wide array of dynamic partnerships to contribute knowledge, expertise and resources and translate those into top notch advisory and support.

UNDP Iraq Country Office is looking for curious, quirky and fun, innovative and out of the box natural strategic thinkers. Someone who understands systems, the good, the bad and the ugly, and is capable of working within bureaucracies to make change, leverage technology to extend, enhance and multiply exploration, discovery and execution and be a committed agent of change for finding solutions to complex development problems. Someone who is looking forward to become a part of a large global organization exhibiting United Nations value. For more information, please visit the web site: www.iq.undp.org/jobs.