Applications are open for the World Trade Organization (WTO) Young Professionals Programme for 2021.
The WTO Young Professionals Programme (YPP) is a unique opportunity for qualified young professionals up to the age of 32 years, as at 1 January 2021, from eligible developing and least-developed country (LDC) WTO Members, to enhance their knowledge and skills on WTO and international trade issues.
The Programme aims to widen the pool of professionals from these countries who can later be more competitive with respect to recruitment in the WTO and/or other regional and international organizations.
General Functions:
The selected Young Professional will be placed in a specific Division of the WTO Secretariat in accordance with the needs and priorities of the Organization; and based on the identified areas of interest of the Young Professional. Each Young Professional may express interest in not more than three areas of WTO work; and in order of preference.
The areas of work may include, inter alia, the following (in alphabetical order):
- Accessions
- Agriculture
- Council and Trade Negotiations
- Dispute Settlement
- Economic Research and Statistics
- Government Procurement
- Intellectual Property Rights
- Market Access (tariffs and non-tariff barriers)
- Media and External Relations
- Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures
- Technical Barriers to Trade
- Trade and Development
- Trade and Environment
- Trade Facilitation
- Trade in Services and Investment
- Trade Policy Analysis
- Trade-Related Technical Assistance.
- Trade Remedies (anti-dumping and countervailing duties)
Benefits:
Starting Salary: CHF 3,500 monthly salary (approximate)
Eligibility:
- Education: Candidates are required to have advanced university degree in law economics, or other international trade-related subjects relevant to the work of the WTO.
- Knowledge and skills: Candidates should possess:
- General knowledge of the work of the WTO.
- Good drafting skills in English. Ability to draft in French and/or Spanish would be an advantage.
- Ability to work independently and in a team.
- Demonstrated strong interest in international trade and the multilateral trading system.
- Commitment and passion for trade or WTO-related work.
- Work Experience: Candidates should have a minimum of two (2) years of professional experience relevant to the work of the WTO.
- Languages: Candidates should be fluent in English. A good working knowledge either French or Spanish would be an advantage.
How to Apply
All candidates must complete an online application form on the WTO’s E-Recruitment website. The system provides instructions for online application procedures.
All applications must be accompanied by a cover letter of motivation, which should indicate up to three areas of work (see details under general functions), in order of preference, that the applicant would be interested in.
Applications with no accompanying letter of motivation will not be considered. Please refer to instructions under Additional Information on how to add a cover letter on the WTO e-recruitment system.
Additional Information:
Preference shall be given to nationals from WTO Members without any representation at the professional level in the Secretariat; and have not participated in previous cohorts of the YPP. The list of such WTO Members as at 1 April 2020 is set out below:
Angola, Belize, Brunei Darussalam, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Congo, Djibouti, Eswatini, Gabon, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Kuwait, The State of, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mauritania, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Niger, Qatar Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Tonga, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Yemen
APPLICATION DEADLINE: May 29, 2020
