Global Financial Integrity

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Policy Intern – Caribbean (Unpaid)

About the job

Global Financial Integrity (GFI) is a Washington, DC-based think tank specializing in research, advocacy and advisory services related to illicit financial flows. GFI is a global leader in advocating for transparency in the international financial system as a way to facilitate global economic development and reduce illicit financial flows, money laundering, tax evasion, and corruption.

GFI seeks a talented, motivated individual for the Policy Intern – Caribbean (unpaid) position, to join the Latin America and Caribbean Program.

Objective

The Policy Intern – Caribbean will support GFI’s work by reviewing and refining policy resources to ensure accuracy, coherence, and alignment with the GFI Policy Resource Guiding Document, mainly in our work in Belize and the Caribbean region. This internship provides an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in policy analysis, resource development, and anti-corruption strategies.

 Responsibilities

• Policy Resource Review:
• Conduct detailed reviews of policy resources, ensuring they meet the standards outlined in the GFI Policy Resource Guiding Document.
• Verify the accuracy of data, facts, and references in policy materials.
• Ensure clarity, precision, and consistency across all resources.
• Alignment with Guidelines:
• Cross-check policy resources to ensure compliance with GFI’s style, structure, and content guidelines.
• Provide recommendations for improving the readability and impact of resources.
• Collaboration:
• Work closely with the Belize Policy Analyst and other team members to incorporate feedback into resources.
• Policy Analysis:
• Assist in analyzing existing policies and frameworks in Belize and the Caribbean to provide context for policy resources.
• Conduct research to support the development of future policy materials.
• Reporting:
• Prepare summaries or briefs on reviewed materials, highlighting key issues or areas for improvement.
• Submit regular updates on progress and challenges to the Belize Policy Analyst and the Director of the Latin America and the Caribbean Program.

 Qualifications

• Current enrollment in or recent completion of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Public Policy, Political Science, Law, International Relations, or a related field.
• Strong attention to detail and excellent analytical skills.
• Familiarity with governance, anti-corruption, or natural resource management topics is an advantage.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and basic research tools.
• Ability to work independently and meet deadlines.

 How to Apply

To apply, please provide:

• Cover letter in English
• Resume in English
• Three professional references including reference name, firm name, reference email and working relationship to reference (ex. supervisor).
• All finalists will undergo a foreign language proficiency test.

Email these documents to [email protected] & [email protected] and please include “Policy Intern – Caribbean” in the subject line. To be considered for the position, you must include all documents in one PDF file. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis; applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early. Intern positions are unpaid. No phone calls please.

This year, Global Financial Integrity, Academics Stand Against Poverty and Yale’s Global Justice Program will be awarding the eleventh annual Amartya Sen Prizes to the two best original essays examining one particular component of illicit financial flows, the resulting harms, and possible avenues of reform.  Essays should be about 7,000 to 9,000 words long. There is a first prize of USD 5,000 and a second prize of USD 3,000.  Winning essays must be available for publication in Journal Academics Stand Against Poverty. Past winners are not eligible.

Illicit financial flows are explicitly recognized as an obstacle to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and singled out as target #4 of SDG 16. They are defined as cross-border movements of funds that are illegally earned, transferred, or used – such as funds earned through illegal trafficking in persons, drugs or weapons; funds illegally transferred through mispriced exchanges (e.g., among affiliates of a multinational firm seeking to shift profits to reduce taxes); goods misinvoiced or funds moved in order to evade taxes; and funds used for corruption of or by public or corporate officials.  

Components of illicit financial flows can be delimited by sector or geographically. Delimitation by sector might focus your essay on some specific activity, business or industry – such as art, real estate, health care, technology, entertainment, shipping, weapons, agriculture, sports, gaming, education, politics, tourism, natural resource extraction, banking and financial services – or on an even narrower subsector such as the diamond trade, hunting, insurance, or prostitution.  Delimitation by geography might further narrow the essay’s focus to some region, country, or province.

Your essay should describe the problematic activity and evaluate the adverse effects that make it problematic.  You should estimate, in quantitative terms if possible, the magnitude of the relevant outflows as well as the damage they do to affected institutions and populations.  This might include harm from abuse, exploitation and impoverishment of individuals, harm through subdued economic activity and reduced prosperity, and/or harm through diminished tax revenues that depress public spending.

Your essay should also explain the persistence of the harmful activity in terms of relevant incentives and enabling conditions and, based on your explanation, propose plausible ways to curtail the problem.  Such reform efforts might be proposed at diverse levels, including supranational rules and regimes, national rules, corporate policies, professional ethics, individual initiatives, or any combination thereof.  The task is to identify who has the responsibility, the capacity and (potentially) the knowledge and motivation to change behavior toward effective curtailment. Special consideration will be given to papers that provide a detailed description of how change may come about in a particular geographical or sectoral context.

We welcome authors from diverse academic disciplines and from outside the academy. Please send your entry by email attachment on or before 31 August 2024 to Tom Cardamone at [email protected].

While your message should identify you, your essay should be stripped of self-identifying references, formatted for blind review.