Deadline: August 13, 2023.

The African Young Women Leaders Fellowship Programme offers an interesting 12 months assignment with UNDP at its HQ in New York or in one of its regional or country offices. There will be no placement in hardship locations.  

The AfYWL Fellowship Programme:

• Do you want to work to advance the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063?
• Do you want to contribute towards youth empowerment and employment, gender equality and women empowerment, strategic communications and partnerships, and South-South Cooperation to unleash the development potential of Africa?
• Do you want to develop your skills and join a new generation of global leaders?
• Do you believe in the potential of young women in driving transformational change?
• Are you able to mainstream youth priorities and gender in development?

The UN Development Programme works in some 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. UNDP helps countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience to sustain development results. UNDP supports the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as they help shape global sustainable development for the next 15 years.

The AfYWL Fellowship Programme is a partnership under the framework of the AUC Chairperson’s 1 Million Next Level Initiative, which aims to provide opportunities for African youth in the key areas of Education, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Engagement, and mainstream youth and women in key development spaces. This exciting partnership aims to build a new generation of young African women leaders and experts to serve Africa and the world in designing and implementing development programmes in the context of the SDGs and Agenda 2063. The Fellowship Programme will explore different areas of development within the six strategic impact areas of UNDP’s Renewed Strategic Offer in Africa: 1) Natural Resource Governance; 2) Youth and Women’s Employment and Empowerment; 3) Structural Economic Transformation; 4) Sustainable Energy; 5) Climate Change; and 6) Peace and Security.  

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Education:

• Completed Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics, Political Science, Business Administration, International Relations/Development, Law, Communications, Digitalization or other related development field.    

Experience:

• Maximum cumulative two years (post bachelor/postmaster degree) of relevant and paid working experience in research, analysis and programme/project development, implementation and management.

Language Requirements:

• Strong working knowledge of English
• Proficiency in at least one additional AU working language (Arabic, English, French, Portuguese or Spanish) is an advantage

Additional Criteria:

• Female candidates accepted only
• National of an African Union member state.  
• Maximum Age of 30 at the date of application.
• Available in 2023/2024 to dedicate 12 months for a fellowship assignment.
• Available early 2024 to participate in an induction workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (timing to be confirmed/all costs covered).
• Willing to relocate to duty station, live and work outside country of residence on an assignment which leverages on your skills & potential.
• Understanding of, and interest in, poverty eradication, sustainable structural transformation, the SDGs and Agenda 2063.
• Capacity to gather comprehensive information on complex problems or situations, and ability to evaluate and analyze information accurately in order to identify key issues and solutions.
• Additional expertise and background in digital transformation, strategic partnerships and communications, development intelligence and innovation will also be considered. 

BENEFITS

As part of the fellowship assignment, the fellow will benefit from the following training and learning opportunities:

• Participation in a dedicated induction workshop in Addis Ababa (early 2024) hosted jointly by AUC and UNDP (all costs covered).
• Access to an earmarked learning budget for relevant learning/development activities.
• Participation in regular mentorship by senior UNDP staff.
• Participation in a transformative leadership development training programme jointly developed by AUC and UNDP.
• Participation in tailored learning and community events targeted UNDP Young Professionals
• Support from UNDP on other corporate learning and development activities. 

In addition, the Fellow will benefit from the relevant training and learning modalities/opportunities offered in the receiving office.

APPLICATION

To initiate your application you will need: 

• Copies of your national ID/Passport for upload.
• Copies of your academic degrees (tertiary education/Bachelor and Masters) for upload.

Applications that do not meet the eligibility criteria and include the requested documents will not be taken into further consideration. 

The application procedure will undergo the following stages:
Stage 1: Upon initial review of your Eligibility you will be invited to submit additional information to support your application.
Stage 2: Candidates under further consideration will be invited to an on-line test with the objective to test your competencies and cognitive abilities.  
Stage 3: Should you be considered following successful completion of the test, you will be invited to submit the following additional documents. 

• A written Essay (Instructions to follow)
• Personal History Form, P11
• 3 Written references

Stage 4: Should you be considered following successful assessment of your submitted essay, you will be further shortlisted and invited to conduct a self-recorded video interview. The video interview will include a separate assessment of your listed language skills.   
Stage 5: A final evaluation of your submitted self-recorded video interview will be conducted as the final stage of your application process.

OFFICIAL LINK