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 2022, 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.
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.
This is a limited programme that offers selected young professionals with the opportunity to gain work experience in the WTO. There is no guarantee of an extension of the programme or of a job offer after the one-year programme.
WTO Young Professionals Programme Areas of Work
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.
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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 and Gender
- Trade in Services and Investment
- Trade Policy Analysis
- Trade-Related Technical Assistance.
- Trade Remedies (anti-dumping and countervailing duties)
WTO Young Professionals Programme Eligibility
Education:
- Advanced university degree in Law, Economics, or other international trade-related subjects relevant to the work of the WTO.
Knowledge and skills:
- 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 as part of a team, in a multicultural environment.
- Demonstrated strong interest in international trade and the multilateral trading system.
- Commitment and passion for trade or WTO-related work.
Work Experience:
Minimum two (2) years of professional experience relevant to the work of the WTO.
Languages:
- Fluency in English. A good working knowledge either French or Spanish would be an advantage.
WTO Young Professionals Programme Benefits
- Selected applicants will receive CHF 3,500 monthly salary
How to Apply for WTO Young Professionals Programme
All applications must be accompanied by a cover letter of motivation, which should indicate up to three areas of work, in order of preference, that the applicant would be interested in. Applications with no accompanying letter of motivation will not be considered.
Apply Here
Additional Information
- Preference shall be given to nationals from WTO Members without any representation or with low representation (one staff member) 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 15 March 2021 is set out below:
- Angola, Barbados, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Djibouti, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Moldova, Myanmar, Niger, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Suriname, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia.
- Applicants must submit their applications through the e-recruitment system along with their cover letter of motivation. Instructions to add the cover letter is as follows: Once the application for the Young Professionals Programme has been submitted, their application will be displayed under the “My Applications” tab. Applicants should click on the button “Add” for the specific vacancy under the “Covering letter” column. Cover letters added in other sections of the applicant profile such as “Additional Information” or “Additional Documents”.
- Only applications from nationals of WTO Members will be accepted. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply to this Programme.
- The WTO may use various communication technologies such as video or teleconference for the assessment and evaluation of candidates. The recruitment process may also involve the use of various forms of testing, assessment centres, interviews and reference checks.
- Applicants may be required to sit a written examination
- Applicants will be contacted directly if selected for an interview
