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Why are single, young, male professionals disrespected?

United Nations: What are my options for joining the UN Young Professionals Programme?

  • "The young professionals programme is a platform for launching a career as an international civil servant". Potentially misguided idealism aside, UN work sounds incredibly fulfilling and exciting to me. However, one of the listed criterion is "Are you a national of a participating country?" My country Singapore is not among the list. I'm a pre-University student considering my options, so I can still bide my time and wait for the list to change, I suppose. At the same time (caveat: I don't know much about this topic) I would wager that despite its incredible economic influence worldwide, Singapore might not be in demand in the UN anytime soon given its small size and general neutrality (at least publicly) in the foreign relations sphere. Given suitable enough qualifications, would the UN be persuaded to make an exception? Do my chances stand at utterly nil? I am a female Chinese if that matters. Also, Singapore has a UN Permanent Mission in NY (http://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/overseasmission/newyork.html_).

  • Answer:

    The bad news is that it's highly unlikely that the program will take you if your country is not on the list. The program exists as an effort to draw people from a specific set of countries in an effort to achieve some sort of desired geographical breakdown.[1] How they determine what that breakdown is exactly, I don't know, but  it's part of an attempt to create a more representative and diverse  cross-section within the UN's primary workforce. The good news is that you're young and so you still have time for some of the workers who hail from Singapore to retire/get another job.[2] [1] According to last year's report on the Secretariat's workforce, Singapore falls under the category of being "within range." (http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A%2F67%2F329). [2] Or you could always become a citizen of another country that is on the list.

William Petroff at Quora Visit the source

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A better idea is for you to start acquiring the skills and experience needed by the United Nations, and then apply for openings at UN agencies - at their various HQs around the world and in the field. That's how I got to work for the UN - I had an area of specialization that was (and still is) very much needed. And I acquired that expertise in my own country.

Jayne Cravens

My understanding is that the countries may change because in 2012 not the same countries were listed as those listed in 2013. While it's partly because of representation balance, the reason the UN favours certain countries is because the cintribute more financially, After you're accepted as a Young Professional and are offered a salary that salary is paid by your country. This is why they can only recruit from donor countries. In some cases donor countries may choose to fund applicants from developing countries but I wouldn't think that applicants from Singapore are eligible. I hope you find a way to get into the UN.

Sara Chelaghma

There is no way your application would be considered if the country is not even in the list. The YPP exam itself is ultra-competitive, I would't invest my energy, focus and time 100% for it. The process until you will be offered a job (which post location you have no right to decide, so you can fall into places that you dislike) will take 1-2 years after you apply.So while still checking the list every year (why not ask your MFA to check whether they know if Singapore will be in the list anytime soon?), I would suggest you to apply for UN Volunteers as well.

Amri Pitoyo Priyadi

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