The Fully Funded UNDP Fellowship is a partnership program between the African Union Commission (AUC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 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 programs in the context of the SDGs and Agenda 2063.

We are looking for up to 40 talented young African women to join the third cohort of this 12-month fellowship program. As an AfYWL Fellow, you will be assigned to a UNDP office under a learning and development program. You will embark on a journey where you will need to demonstrate agility and adaptability to an environment and an assignment where your skills and potential will be leveraged. Applicants should be ready to accept any location offered in either HQ, Country, or Regional office (no hardship locations). There will be no possibility for an extension of the Fellowship assignment beyond 12 months.

The Fully Funded UNDP Fellowship will cover expenses related to travel and medical insurance for the fellow only (no entitlements applicable for dependents/family). Each fellow will receive a monthly stipend to cover accommodation and basic living costs at their respective duty station. In addition, paid leave and an earmarked learning budget will be allocated for undertaking relevant learning and development activities.

The eligibility criteria for the Fully Funded UNDP Fellowship are stated below:

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

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

3. Strong working knowledge of English.

4. Proficiency in at least one additional AU working language (Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish) is an advantage.

5. Female candidates accepted only

6. National of an African Union member state.

7. Maximum Age of 30 at the date of application.

8. Available in 2023/2024 to dedicate 12 months for a fellowship assignment.

9. Available in early 2024 to participate in an induction workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (timing to be confirmed/all costs covered).

10. Willing to relocate to duty station, live and work outside your country of residence on an assignment that leverages your skills & potential.

11. Understanding of, and interest in, poverty eradication, sustainable structural transformation, the SDGs, and Agenda 2063.

12. 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.

13. Additional expertise and background in digital transformation, strategic partnerships and communications, development intelligence, and innovation will also be considered.

HOW TO APPLY:

You are required to submit your application in English. Please follow the APPLY Link above to initiate your application.

During the application process, you will be taken through different stages of assessment and selection. Hereunder, you should be readily available to produce the required information and material requested enabling the AfYWL Recruitment team to review and assess your 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 Master) 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 online test with the objective to test their 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 a 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.

Successful and fully recommended candidates will be included in a final roster considered for the available AfYWL Fellowship placements at a location/assignment determined by UNDP.

Stage 6: Candidates under final consideration may be invited for a follow-up interview with the hosting UNDP Headquarters, regional or country office, or AUC office. Offers to join the 3rd Cohort of the African Young Women Leaders Fellowship Programme will be communicated to the up to 40 most successful candidates including the location of the assignment and job description. The location of the assignment will be determined through a final matching exercise where candidate profiles will be matched against assignment profiles/duty stations where the most suitable fit is identified. Applicants should be ready to accept any location offered in either HQ, Country, or Regional office (no hardship locations). There will be no possibility for an extension of the Fellowship assignment beyond 12 months.