Young Professionals Program

The Young Professionals Program is a well-recognized recruitment body meant for the development of talented and highly qualified professionals who wish to commence their career as an international civil servant with the United Nations Secretariat. The Program consists of an entrance examination after which successful candidates can be put through the professional development program and subsequently start their career with the UN, upon completion.

Features of Young Professionals Program

The young professionals program provides a platform that builds an outstanding, fulfilling and exceptional career for youth and interested young people. The program lasts for 36 months of in-depth teaching under the Young Professionals Learning Academy. This teaching is rendered to students in batches of 6 months for all; with the aim to build leadership and technical skills and also deepen their knowledge in relevant areas needed to take up future roles.

Once a student is equipped with the best knowledge required to keep up with the pace for a better life, they become functional in many areas of the Bank where they will put into reality what they have learned. With partnership and collaborations with experienced professionals from recognized institutions and organizations, the Young Professional Programme delivers the handiest leadership development through mentors, colleagues, and coaches.

The features and core areas of the program are outlined below.

• Light Up and Power Africa

The features of Young Professionals Learning Academy includes lighting up Africa in ways as Energy partnerships (energy partnerships and stakeholders engagement, energy markets), power systems development (grid base power system, power utilities), Energy Statistics, Climate change and green growth (climate finance, climate adaptation), Renewable energy (off-grid energy access) and Policy and Regulation.

• Feed Africa

Feeding is an essential part of existence in all human, this is why the young professional’s program includes feeding Africa as part of their agenda. The program will feed Africa in ways as Agricultural finance and rural development, Agro-industry, production and sustainability, agribusiness development and rural infrastructure development.

• Integrate and Industrialize Africa

By training her best-qualified candidates for the reformation and transformation required across the globe, they, in turn, integrate and industrialize Africa and other continents in areas like Governance and public financial management, Infrastructure, cities & urban development (transport and logistics, ICT), Development research (macroeconomic policy, debt sustainability and forecasting, microeconomic, institutional and development impact), Private sector development (strategy and new product, portfolio asset management, special operations) and many others.

• Improve the lives of the people

The program also aims at improving the lives of the multitude in various aspects as quality education, social development, employment, and public health and the likes. This is made possible through the Coaching, Sponsoring and Mentoring of youth and young adults who enroll and subsequently admitted into the Young Professional Programme.

Eligibility

The YPP entrance examination is conducted annually and open to nationals of countries under the United Nations- which are eligible to participate in the annual recruitment exercise. Usually, the list of participating countries is published every year before the commencement of the selection exercise.

Also, the selection is based on the following criteria.

• Candidates must be a nationality of one of the participating countries
• Candidate must possess at least a first university degree that is relevant to the exam subject being applied for
• Candidates must not be more than 32 years of age in the year of examination
• Candidates must be able to speak either of French or English or both fluently.

How to apply

The process of applying to the Young Professionals Programme is online and has a series of steps to be followed in tow. Noting that the program is an internationally recognized one, it is highly competitive amidst all nationals; in this regard, applicants are strictly advised to provide the most relevant information where required to avoid nullifying their chances of being selected.

For applicants who have dual nationality, they are advised to select the country they wish to declare as the organization recognizes only one nationally from a member country and not dual.

The online application is a prerequisite for the facilitation of selection by the board and this can be done by following through the steps in subsequent lines.

• The first thing to get started with is providing a working email address and another alternative one. This will be the means of communication, so it is advisable to fill in the correct email.
• Provide answers to all questions
• Provide the most current and correct contact information.
• If during the recruitment process, the applicant has a change in email, he/she should email the contact support with the updated data.
• Fill in the correct phone number, city code, country code as well as number.
• Upload a two-page curriculum vitae using Microsoft word.
• Upload your copies of Academic certificates and transcripts
• Upload your Master’s Thesis topic and/or Ph.D. Dissertation if available.

After the recruitment exercise is completed, successful candidates are who are selected from the process will be appointed YPs under their self declared nationalities for as long as the programs last, thereby making for a continuation contract with the Bank.

In lieu of all that has been said, it is made obvious that the YPP is indeed making the necessary changes in the world with the reformation of the youth modus operandi. This is commendable.