Fully Funded UN OHCHR Indigenous Fellowship Programme 2025

Applications are now open for the 2025 UN OHCHR Indigenous Fellowship Programme. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) launched the Indigenous Fellowship Programme in 1997, coinciding with the first International Decade of Indigenous Peoples.

The program’s goal is to provide indigenous people with an opportunity to learn about the United Nations system and mechanisms dealing with human rights issues in general, and indigenous issues in particular.

Trained participants are better equipped to assist their organisations and communities in protecting and promoting their rights. This training programme is available in 5 languages: English, Spanish, French, Russian and Portuguese.

Fellows from all 5 language components of the programme are trained together with simultaneous interpretation over 4 weeks in Geneva.

The date of the training programme usually coincides with the annual session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (June/July each year), allowing the fellows to participate more actively in that Mechanism.

Cost

The selected candidates are entitled to a return flight ticket, living expenses and basic health insurance for the duration of the training.

Eligibility

The candidate must be indigenous (non-indigenous persons will not be taken into consideration, even if they have close links with indigenous communities and/or organizations).
Age should not be a limitation to participation in the programme.
Formal education should not be a limitation to participation in the IFP given the socio-economic barriers confronted by many indigenous peoples that limit access to formal educational institutions.
Candidates should agree to train other indigenous persons after the return to their respective communities/organizations.
The candidate should be proposed, and his/her candidacy supported by his/her indigenous organization and/or community. It is desirable that the sponsoring organization has a firm constituency or membership and that it is representative.
The candidate should have a good working knowledge of the language in which the programme is imparted.

Application

Send your application form well before the deadline. Fellowship applications will only be taken into consideration if they are fully completed. Both parts I and II of the application form must be signed and sent by regular post to the following address:

Mr. Morse Caoagas Flores
Coordinator, Indigenous Fellowship Programme
Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
48, Avenue Giuseppe-Motta, Office 2-05
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland

Scanned applications are also accepted and can be sent to the following email: [email protected] and copy: [email protected]

Application forms need to be accompanied by an official recommendation letter from the nominating indigenous organization or community.

For more information, visit UN OHCHR Indigenous Fellowship.

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