This Fellowship programme aims to provide practical, on-the-job experience to the young professionals in their early and middle career in the academy, public sector or international development in providing them exposure and learning in a multicultural environment of the UN and contribute to the work of ECA. It will also provide the candidates with the opportunity to familiarize with the Commission’s broad programmes and services to member States and subregional bodies in addressing economic and social dimensions of Africa’s development priorities. This should expectedly improve their skills, capacity and intellectual ability.
As a foremost knowledge policy institution in Africa, ECA seeks to engage bright young Africans for skills and capacity development, training and mentorship through a fellowship programme within ECA’s work programme. This fellowship initiative is in line with the Commission’s effort to assist member States develop their capacities in economic and social policy research, development, implementation, analysis, governance, and monitoring and evaluation. The fellowship aims at developing a new crop of young African intellectuals with strong policy making knowledge and capacity in supporting African countries in the process of economic and social transformation and development.
ECA is hereby inviting applications from qualified young African Professionals in the following
thematic areas:
- Macroeconomic policy, Development Planning, Economic Governance & Public
Finance;
- Industrialization and Economic Diversification Policies;
- Regional Integration; Infrastructure and Trade
- Private Sector Development & Finance, including Innovative Finance & Capital
Markets;
- Poverty, Inequality and Social Policy;
- Food Systems and Food Security
- Gender Equality and Women Empowerment;
- Demographic Dynamics for Development;
- Innovation and Technology;
- Data and Statistics Management
- Climate Change & Management of Natural Resources, including Green Economy;
- Labor Economics and Employment
- Communication, Advocacy, Media Relations
- Knowledge Management, Information Management and Librarianship
- Strategic Planning, Foresight Analysis, Monitoring and Evaluation, Partnership and
Resource Mobilization
- Administration, Human Resource, Budget and Financial Management
- Organizational Behavior and Change Management
- Risk Management and Corporate Policy
Eligibility Criteria
The following conditions will apply:
- The candidate applying for this fellowship programme must be 35 years of age or below, at the time of the application;
- The candidate must be a national of a member State of the Economic Commission for Africa;
- The candidate must have graduated before 1 July 2024 from either a master’s degree or doctorate degree programme, or equivalent;
- The candidate should have interest in one or more of the identified thematic areas;
- The selected candidate will work on a predefined project, designed to contribute to specific aspects of the work programme of the mentoring Division, Sub-Regional Office or ECA Centres, and contribute to other activities;
- The selected candidate should participate in national, regional or international meetings as assigned for exposure;
- The selected candidate should submit and present at a seminar a peer reviewed research paper at the end of the assignment; and
- The selected candidate will be part of an alumni association of ECA Fellows and member of practicing international development “community of practice
Qualifications:
- Education: Advanced university degree (Master’s Degree or Doctorate or their equivalents) in economics, development studies, political economy, international affairs, political and social sciences, peace and human security, public administration, law, minerals and natural resources, engineering, business administration and related field is required.
- Experience: Academic research or academic work related to the focus thematic areas is required. Experience in research/analytical work in socio-economic and political development, natural resource management/law, regional integration, infrastructure development, governance, peace and related areas in the context of Africa, either in the academia, private, public or civil society organizations, is an advantage.
- Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the fellowship advertised, fluency in either language is required and working knowledge of the other is desirable. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage.
Application Process
Application Procedure:
- ALL SUBMISSIONS TO BE EMAILED TO: Email Address:
Subject Line: ECA Fellowship for Young African Professionals, 2024
Required Documents:
Candidates must submit their Administrative Profiles (APs) and the following documents as PDF attachments:
- UN Administrative Profile (AP)* in PDF format, including a motivation statement (cover letter) within the AP (to be submitted as an attachment to email submission).
- A research proposal of not less than 1,000 words (in candidate’s preferred thematic area listed above) Candidate must clearly indicate the thematic area of choice at the top of the research proposal document
- Copies of all advanced-level academic degrees obtained (e.g., doctorate and/ or master’s degree(s). As an advanced-level degree is required for the fellowship, firstlevel (bachelor’s) degrees and certificates should NOT be submitted • Copy of applicant’s national passport (information page only); if you hold multiple nationalities, the passport provided should be that of an ECA member State),and;
- Three letters of reference/recommendation
