1 UNDP Junior Professional Officer Programme UNDP Regional Workshop March 2007

2 What is the UNDP Junior Professional Officer Programme? Celebrating 40 years of existence, the JPO Programme aims at: Providing young professionals pursuing a career in development with experience in multilateral technical co- operation Supporting the development agenda of developing countries and contributing to the achievement of the international development targets Giving UNDP offices access to motivated and promising human resources

3 In a few figures 24 Participating Donors, usually only sponsoring their nationals 190 JPOs (average of 90 new JPOs each year) 90 Duty Stations 27 Nationalities

4 Profile of a Junior Professional Officer Funded by Donors for 2 to 3 years Under 32 years of age (average 31 years) Master’s degree (or equivalent) 2 – 4 years of working experience in average Proficiency in at least two official UN languages Key competencies: results-oriented, analytical, team-player, flexible, good communications and stress management skills Strong commitment to development (former field experience is an asset)

5 At a glance

6 UNDP JPOs by Donors

7 Main Fields of Activity ●Poverty Reduction Democratic Governance HIV/AIDS Energy and Environment Crisis Prevention & Recovery UN Coordination

8 The UNDP JPO Service Centre The JPO Service Centre is at the hub of the JPO Programme: It acts as a one-stop shop and as a focal point with donors on day-to-day human resources, financial and administrative matters (recruitment, selection, placement, etc.) It supports the recruitment process of JPOs (by assisting the Ministries of Foreign Affairs in the recruitment of JPOs or by managing the entire recruitment cycle) It works closely with the UNDP Duty Stations around the world, providing advice and developing new tools to improve the JPO Programme. It provides post-JPO career development support

9 Advantages for the Participating Donors The JPO Programme: Presents a donor country with a mechanism of delivering development assistance Supports the priorities of the donor development cooperation policies and programmes Provides donor nationals with opportunities for training and expertise in international development management and cooperation Increases the respective donor representation in the UN System: being a JPO represents one of the best entry points towards becoming a long-term staff member of the UN system

10 The best entry point in the UN System For the period , the UN System absorbed 40% of the 620 UNDP JPOs 25% returned to their home countries to continue work in the field of international cooperation (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NGOs, consultancy companies, research) Former JPOs also account for more than 20% of the current UNDP professional staff One in three current UN Resident Coordinators are former JPOs and several former JPOs serve at the Assistant Secretary General level

11 “Retention” success stories… UN Resident Coordinators in: Equatorial guinea, Kenya, Bulgaria, Myanmar, Algeria, Fiji, Morocco, Afghanistan, Uruguay, Yemen, Moldova, Madagascar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia… UNDP Deputy Representatives in: Moldova, Congo, Madagascar, Guinea Bissau, Tanzania, Russian Federation, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Mexico, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yemen, India, Georgia…

12 Advantages for Emerging Donor Countries “Old” EU member countries participate in the programme Reported as part of ODA (multilateral development cooperation) Excellent mechanism for building national capacities in multilateralism and a national resource base in the field of development cooperation Excellent mechanism for marketing own nationals with the UN System and best entry point into the UN System. Emerging donor countries have only few staff working at the professional level in UNDP. Out of the 1400 internationally-recruited UNDP, there are currently: 3 Bulgarians, 1 Croatian, 2 Czechs, 1 Estonian,1 Hungarian, 2 Latvians, 2 Lithuanians, 4 Poles, 1 Romanian, 8 Russians, 2 Slovakians, 0 Slovenians, 0 Thais and 8 Turks

13 To know more about… The UNDP JPO Programme The UNDP JPO Service Centre Please visit our dedicated website (available in 3 languages):