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 2023, from WTO Members with low or no professional representation in the WTO Secretariat, to enhance their knowledge and skills on WTO and international trade issues. The Programme aims to widen the pool of professionals from these WTO Members, who can later be more competitive with respect to recruitment in the WTO and/or other regional and international organizations.
This programme offers selected young professionals the opportunity to gain work experience in the WTO.
Host Organization: WTO
Opportunity Category: Internship
Eligible Country: All Countries
Application Closing Date: 11-05-2022
How it Works
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.
Available Field of Work
The areas of work may include, inter alia, the following:
– Accessions
– Agriculture
– Climate change
– Communications
– Council and Trade Negotiations
– Digital Trade
– Dispute Settlement
– Economic Research and Statistics
– External relations
– Government Procurement
– Intellectual Property Rights
– Investment Facilitation for Development
– Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
– Market Access (tariffs and non-tariff barriers)
– Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures
– Technical Barriers to Trade
– Trade and Development
– Trade and Environment
– Trade Facilitation
– Trade Finance
– Trade and Gender
– Trade-in Services and Investment
– Trade Policy Analysis
– Trade-Related Technical Assistance.
– Trade Remedies (anti-dumping and countervailing duties)
Eligibility Criteria
- Education:
Advanced university degree in economics, econometrics, international relations, law, environment studies, or other trade-related subjects relevant to the work of the WTO and/or ongoing discussions in the WTO (e.g. international investment law, trade and gender, etc.). Applicants must have obtained their advanced university degree by the time they submit their application. - Knowledge and Skills:
– General knowledge of the work of the WTO.
– Technical knowledge in one or more of the areas of work indicated above.
– 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 of either French or Spanish would be an advantage. - Information:
– Preference shall be given to nationals from WTO Members without any representation as well as from developing and least developed countries (LDCs) Members with low representation (one or two staff members) at the professional level in the Secretariat (list below). Particular attention will be given to developing and LDCs WTO Members that have not participated in previous cohorts of the YPP.
Programme Benefits
- An opportunity to learn from experts and professionals in your discipline
- opportunity to gain work experience in the WTO.
- Monthly Remuneration (Monthly Salary: CHF 4,000)
Application and Selection Process
All applicants are encouraged to apply online as soon as possible after the vacancy has been posted and well before the closing date – Geneva (Switzerland) time – stated in the vacancy announcement.
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.
All applications must be accompanied b a cover letter of motivation which should indicate up to three areas of work. Applications with no accompanying letter of motivation will not be considered. Click the ‘APPLY NOW’ button below to apply. Visit WTO page for more details on the application.
