About the Fellowship Programme
The Minorities Fellowship Programme (MFP) was launched by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2005.
The MFP is held annually and currently has two linguistic versions: The
English language programme has been running since 2005 and the Arabic
language programme started in 2007. The Arabic language component began
as a two-week pilot and gradually expanded to five weeks in 2011. The
duration of the programmes varied until 2011, when both programmes were
decided to last 5 weeks and coincide with the session of the Forum on
Minority Issues.
Through the MFP, the OHCHR aims to give persons belonging to national or
ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities an opportunity to gain
knowledge on the UN system and mechanisms dealing with international
human rights in general and minority rights in particular. The MFP is
intended to assist organizations and communities in protecting and
promoting the rights of minorities the fellows belong to.
The Fellows are based at the OHCHR Geneva, Switzerland. The MFP is
interactive and consists of briefings on several topics (e.g. the UN
system, OHCHR work, human rights mechanisms and instruments), fellows
also undertake individual and group assignments.
At the end of the MFP, the fellows should have a general knowledge of
the United Nations system, international human rights instruments and
mechanisms in general and those relevant to minorities in particular and
be capable of further training their communities/organizations.
Fellows are entitled to the following: a return ticket (economy class)
from the country of residence to Geneva; basic health insurance for the
duration of the Programme; a stipend to cover modest accommodation and
other living expenses for the duration of the Programme.
Who can apply?
1. The candidate must belong to a national, ethnic, linguistic or
religious minority group (persons who do not belong to a minority group
will not be taken into consideration, even if they have close links with
minority communities and/or organizations)
Senior Minorities Fellowship Position
The Senior Minorities Fellowship Position aims at giving a better
understanding and appreciation of the international human rights system
and mechanisms, especially those dealing with minority issues, to a
selected member of a national or ethnic, religious and linguistic
minority with relevant experience and education.
Through the experience gained during almost three months (April-July
2012) of working with the OHCHR Indigenous Peoples and Minorities
Section the Senior Fellow will gain practical knowledge and working
level experience by directly contributing to the programmes and
activities of the Section. The Senior Fellow is expected to return to
his/her community better equipped to contribute towards the promotion
and protection of minorities.
The call for applications is now open. Deadline: 20 February 2012
for more details and the application form, see http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Minorities/Pages/Fellowship.aspx
contact: minorityfellowships@ohchr.org