WTO opens application for 2022 Young Professionals Programme

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is calling for a programme for the 2022 Young Professionals Programme (YPP).

Announcing the program in an announcement on its site on Friday, April 9, the organisation said the programme enabled qualified young professionals in growing and least-developed countries to better their knowledge regarding the WTO and global trade issues.

The WTO stated YPP choice would provide preference to young professionals in developing and least-developed countries that were members of the WTO and whose nationals were currently under-represented or not represented in the organisation’s Secretariat.

It included that YPP was part of the Secretariat’s overall goal to improve its diversity to better reflect the make-up of its membership.

The organization explained further that YPP was a special chance to obtain hands-on experience that could help open the door for potential professional opportunities within the field of multilateral diplomacy and global trade.

Candidates up to age 32, as of 1 January 2022, from eligible countries were invited to submit their program by 29 April 2021.

The chosen candidates will work in the WTO Secretariat for one year, beginning in January 2022.

They were selected from over 2,400 candidates following a competitive selection process.

Almost 60 professionals have engaged in the programme because it was launched in 2017, WTO stated.

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Love of experience and a positive attitude is required from participants at the programme.

Selected young professionals have been allocated to several divisions of the WTO Secretariat according to their qualifications and the requirements of the division.

The areas of work may include accessions, agriculture, dispute resolution, intellectual property rights, market access, media and external relations, WTO rules, trade and growth, trade and environment, trade in services and investment, trade facilitation, trade policy analysis and trade-related technical assistance.

The online application form can be accessed on the WTO e-Recruitment site and should be done no later than 29 April 2021, said the WTO.

More information about these young professionals can be obtained here.

Nigerian renowned economist Ngozi Okonjo Iweala clinched the post of this director-general of the organization after defeating six others at three rounds of screening, while her final rival and South Korean candidate for the post Yoo Myung-hee finally withdrew her candidacy on February 5, 2021, paving the way for its Nigerian-American Okonjo-Iweala to become the first female and African to lead the institution.