In Summary

Location: UNDP at Headquarters in New York or in a regional or country office (No hardship duty stations). Salary: Monthly stipend to support accommodation and basic living costs

Job Description

We invite you to apply to the AUC-UNDP African Young Women Leaders (AfYWL) Fellowship Programme – a partnership between the African Union Commission and the United Nations Development Programme.

The African Young Women Leaders Fellowship Programme offers an interesting 12-month assignment with UNDP at its HQ in New York or in one of its regional or country offices. There will be no placement in hardship locations.  

The AfYWL Fellowship Programme:

• Do you want to work to advance the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063?
  
• Do you want to contribute towards youth empowerment and employment, gender equality and women empowerment, strategic communications and partnerships, and South-South Cooperation to unleash the development potential of Africa?
  
• Do you want to develop your skills and join a new generation of global leaders?
  
• Do you believe in the potential of young women in driving transformational change?
  
• Are you able to mainstream youth priorities and gender in development?
  

The UN Development Programme works in some 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. UNDP helps countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience to sustain development results. UNDP supports the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as they help shape global sustainable development for the next 15 years.

The AfYWL Fellowship Programme is a partnership under the framework of the AUC Chairperson’s 1 Million Next Level Initiative, which aims to provide opportunities for African youth in the key areas of Education, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Engagement, and mainstream youth and women in key development spaces. This exciting partnership aims to build a new generation of young African women leaders and experts to serve Africa and the world in designing and implementing development programmes in the context of the SDGs and Agenda 2063. The Fellowship Programme will explore different areas of development within the six strategic impact areas of UNDP’s Renewed Strategic Offer in Africa: 1) Natural Resource Governance; 2) Youth and Women’s Employment and Empowerment; 3) Structural Economic Transformation; 4) Sustainable Energy; 5) Climate Change; and 6) Peace and Security.  

We are looking for up to 40 talented young African women to join the fourth cohort of this 12-month fellowship programme. As an AfYWL Fellow you will be assigned with a UNDP office under a learning and development programme. You will embark on a journey where you will need to demonstrate agility and adaptability to an environment and an assignment where your skills and potential will be leveraged. Applicants should be ready to accept any location offered in either HQ, Country or Regional office (no hardship locations).

We are looking for engaged young African women who embrace UNDP’s values:
- Integrity
- Accountability
- Transparency
- Professionalism
- Mutual Respect
- Results Orientation (Through Principled Performance) 

The Fellowship assignment is conditioned upon a relocation to the duty station of assignment, we will be unable to accommodate remote Fellowship work arrangements. There will be no possibility for extension of the Fellowship assignment beyond the 12 months.

Each fellow will receive a monthly stipend to support accommodation and basic living costs at their respective duty station. In addition, paid leave and an earmarked learning budget will be allocated for undertaking relevant learning and development activities.

The Fellowship programme will cover expenses related to travel and medical insurance for the fellow only. Please note that the Fellowship Programme does not cover allowances, or any expenses related to your family members (travel, visa, schooling, health insurance, etc.).

Supervision
As part of the AfYWL Fellowship Programme, the fellows will benefit from the following supervision modalities:

• Joint structured induction programme facilitated by UNDP and AUC.
  
• Structured guidance and mentoring provided by the supervisor/ UNDP People Manager.
  
• Establishment of a work plan with clear key results and deliverables.
  
• Effective supervision through knowledge sharing and performance/development feedback throughout the assignment.
  
• Participation in Unit/Team/Office meetings to ensure integration and operational effectiveness.
  
• Guidance and career advice in relation to learning and career growth opportunities within the field of expertise.
  

Duties, Responsibilities and Expected Outputs
Key areas of responsibilities may include:
1) Collection and analysis of data and research on SDGs and Agenda 2063;
2) Experimentation on promising areas of innovation around the six impact areas of UNDP’s Renewed Strategic Offer in Africa;
3) Drafting research papers, reports and presentations;
4) Participating in internal and external meetings and conferences;
5) Supporting the implementation of projects and initiatives on gender, youth, climate change, resilience and security among others;
6) Participating in field missions as required;
7) Providing support and liaising with government officials and various stakeholders.

Training and Learning
As part of the fellowship assignment, the fellow will benefit from the following training and learning opportunities:

• Participation in a joint induction/ leadership training workshop in late 2025 or early 2026 developed by AUC and UNDP (costs covered).
  
• Access to an earmarked learning budget for relevant learning/development activities.
  
• Participation in regular mentorship by senior AUC and UNDP staff.
  
• Participation in tailored learning and community events targeting UNDP Young Professionals
  
• Support from UNDP on other corporate learning and development activities.
  

In addition, the Fellow will benefit from the relevant training and learning modalities/opportunities offered in the receiving office.

Competencies
1. Reflection - Think Innovatively: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements
2. Action - Achieve Results: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline
3. Interaction - Engage and Partner: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships
4. Self-Management - Act with Determination: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident

Eligibility Criteria
Education:

• Completed Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics, Political Science, Business Administration, International Relations/Development, Law, Communications, Digitalization or other related development field.    
  

Experience:

• Maximum cumulative two years (post bachelor/postmaster degree) of relevant and paid working experience in research, analysis and programme/project development, implementation and management. 
  

Language Requirements:

• Strong working knowledge of English is required
  
• Proficiency in at least one additional AU working language (Arabic, English, French, Portuguese or Spanish) is an advantage
  

Additional Criteria:

• Female candidates accepted only
  
• National of an African Union member state  
  
• Maximum Age of 30 at the date of application.
  
• Available in 2025/2026 to dedicate 12 months for a fellowship assignment.
  
• Available late 2025 to relocate to duty station and start the Fellowship assignment.
  
• Willing to live and work outside country of residence on an assignment which leverages on your skills & potential.
  
• Understanding of, and interest in, poverty eradication, sustainable structural transformation, the SDGs and Agenda 2063.
  
• Capacity to gather comprehensive information on complex problems or situations, and ability to evaluate and analyze information accurately in order to identify key issues and solutions.
  
• Additional expertise and background in digital transformation, strategic partnerships and communications, development intelligence and innovation will also be considered. 
  

Application Procedure
You are required to submit your application in English. Please follow the APPLY Link above to initiate your application.

During the application process you will be taken through different stages of assessment and selection. Hereunder, you should be readily available to produce the required information and material requested enabling the AfYWL Recruitment team to review and assess your application.

To initiate your application you will need: 

• Copies of your Passports for upload. If you do not hold a passport, a copy of your national ID can be uploaded. If you hold multiple nationalities, please upload copies of all passports/ national IDs.
  
• Copies of your academic degrees (tertiary education/ Master and Bachelor from duly accredited higher education institution for upload).
  

Applications that do not meet the eligibility criteria or do not include the requested documents will not be taken into further consideration. Please be also advised that failure to provide documents requested in each stage of the process within the specified deadlines will result in disqualification from the selection process.

The application procedure will undergo the following stages:
Stage 1: Upon initial review of your eligibility, you may be invited to submit additional information to support your application.
Stage 2: Candidates under further consideration will be invited to an on-line test with the objective to test your competencies and cognitive abilities.  
Stage 3: Should you be considered following successful completion of the test, you will be invited for an assessment and self -recorded video consisting of:
                                     a. Technical assessment: Presentation of a development problem.     
                                     b. Competency based assessment.       
                                     c. Assessment of your listed language skills 
Stage 4: A final evaluation of your submitted self-recorded video interview will be conducted as the final stage of your application process by a UNDP Evaluation Panel. Successful and fully recommended candidates will be included in a final roster considered for the available AfYWL Fellowship placements at a location/assignment determined by UNDP. This stage is expected to be concluded by end of August 2025.  
Stage 5: The location of assignment will be determined through a final matching exercise where candidate profiles will be matched against assignment profiles/duty stations and the most suitable fit is identified.  
Stage 6: Candidates under final consideration may be invited for a follow-up interview with the hosting office in UNDP Headquarters, regional or country office. Offers to join the 4th Cohort of African Young Women Leaders Fellowship Programme including the location of assignment and job description will be communicated to the 40 most successful candidates.
Stage 7: The full assessment and selection process is expected to be concluded by end October 2025. Onboarding to receiving UNDP offices (Expected Q4, 2025).

All applications and submitted documentation will be treated in the strictest confidence. You will be notified after each stage if you will progress to the following stage, with more information on the requirements and update on the time frame.