INTERCULTURAL

LEADERS

Are you a talented and highly qualified professional looking to start a career as an international civil servant with the United Nations? The 2024 United Nations Young Professionals Programme (YPP) is now open, offering a unique opportunity to embark on a fulfilling career with the UN Secretariat.

What is the UN Young Professionals Programme?
The YPP is a recruitment initiative aimed at attracting young professionals to start their careers with the UN Secretariat. It includes an entrance examination and subsequent professional development for successful candidates. The programme is designed to identify and recruit individuals with the skills and passion to contribute to the work of the UN.

Examination and Eligibility
The YPP examination is held annually in various subject areas based on the needs of the UN. Participation is limited to nationals of countries that are underrepresented or unrepresented in the UN. The list of participating countries changes each year.

To be eligible for the 2024 YPP, candidates must:

Be a national of a participating country.
Hold at least a first-level university degree relevant to the exam area (minimum of a Bachelor’s degree or a 3-year equivalent degree).
Be 32 years of age or younger in the year of the examination.
Be fluent in English or French.

For the 2024 cycle, the participating countries include:

A-K: Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahrain, Belize, Brunei Darussalam, China, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Germany, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Kuwait
L-R: Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Libya, Liechtenstein, Malta, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Nauru, Oman, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Qatar, Republic of Korea
S-Z: Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Vanuatu

Application Process
The application period for the 2024 YPP typically opens in June each year. Here are the steps to apply:

Confirm Eligibility: Review the basic application criteria.
Review Job Openings: Find specific exam area job openings via the Job Search function in Inspira or the UN Careers Portal.
Prepare Application: Watch the YPP Application Guide Videos and complete your application on inspira.un.org.

Application Evaluation
Applications are screened based on eligibility criteria. If more than 40 applicants from a country are eligible, additional screening criteria such as education, UN language knowledge, and relevant work experience will be used. Successful applicants will proceed to the examination stages.

Examination Structure
Online Exam Stage One: Multiple choice questions, 2 hours.
Online Exam Stage Two: Constructed response questions, 2-2.5 hours.
Interview Stage: Competency-based video-conference interview.

Recruitment and Placement
Successful candidates are placed on a roster to fill vacancies across the UN Secretariat. The initial contract offered is a two-year fixed-term contract, with the possibility of a continuing contract based on performance. Positions may be available at various UN offices worldwide.