[Student] United Nations Fellowship Program

[Anne Marie Jones]

Dear Friends,

The United Nations is hosting a fellowship program for indigenous
peoples to attend human rights sessions in Geneva, Switzerland. This is
a wonderful opportunity for a deserving person in your community to
learn more about the important developments internationally for
indigenous peoples. The deadline for next year is August 15, 2002, which
is plenty of time to put together an application. The application can be
found online at http://www.unhchr.ch/indigenous/applicform.htm.

Best regards,
Denise McVea
Communications Fellow, Indian Law Resource Center

INDIGENOUS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME FOR THE YEAR 2002 {PRIVATE Fellowship
application }The aim of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights?

Indigenous Fellowship Programme is to give indigenous women and men the
opportunity to gain knowledge in the field of international human rights
in general and on indigenous rights in particular in order to assist
their organisations and communities in protecting and promoting the
human rights of their people.  The Indigenous Fellowship Programme for
2002 will run from June to November. The Fellows will be based at the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
in Geneva, Switzerland for a period of five months. They will also have
the opportunity to establish contacts with other inter-governmental and
non-governmental organisations. After an introduction to relevant Geneva
based bodies and human rights instruments and procedures, the Fellows
have the opportunity to gain practical experience with OHCHR and its
work with human rights through their practical work as part of the
Indigenous Project Team.

It is expected that each Fellow at the end of the Programme will possess
general knowledge about the overall United Nations system, and knowledge
about the international human rights instruments and mechanisms, in
particular those with relevance to indigenous peoples. Furthermore, each
Fellow should also at the end of the Programme be capable of giving
training within their communities and Organizations in the fields of
international human rights in general, and on indigenous peoples rights
in particular, and be able to disseminate the information and knowledge
gained during the Fellowship Programme.

Five Fellowships will be awarded for 2002 including the following:
a) An economy class air ticket from the country of residence to Geneva
(return).
b) Modest accommodation in Geneva for the duration of the Programme.
c) Health insurance for the duration of the Programme.
d) A monthly grant to cover other living expenses in Geneva.
e) An English language course in the home country, if necessary.  

The Advisory Group of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for the
International Decade of the World's Indigenous People has adopted the
following guidelines and general criteria pertaining to the selection of
candidates for the Indigenous Fellowship Programme:

The individual candidate:
1. Age should not be a limitation to participation in the Fellowship
Programme, although
preference should be given to candidates in the age-bracket 25 - 35
years.
2. Formal education should not be a limitation to participation in the
Fellowship Programme given the socio-economic barriers confronted by
many indigenous peoples that limit access to formal educational
institutions.
3. Candidates should have ability and willingness to train other
indigenous persons after the return to their respective
communities/organizations.
4. The candidate should be supported by their indigenous community or
organisation.
5. The Fellows should have a basic understanding of the English
language.

The sponsoring organization/community:
6. The overall goal of the Programme is to give indigenous persons the
opportunity to
gain knowledge and skills in the field of international human rights in
order to assist
their organizations and communities in protecting and promoting the
human rights of their people. Therefore, it is important that the
candidate is proposed and nominated by an indigenous organization or
community.
7. It is desirable that the sponsoring organization has a firm
constituency or membership and that it is representative.

Other guidelines and criteria:
8. The selection of fellows should reflect a regional balance.
9. The general human rights situation in the respective
regions/countries should be taken into consideration in the selection
process.
10. In accordance with the general practice of the United Nations,
selection of Fellows should reflect a gender balance.
11. Ten alternates should be selected in the event that any of the first
five preferences will not be available for the Fellowship period. Five
alternates should be selected as first, second, third, fourth and fifth
preferences in the event that any of the five first preferences will not
be available. The remaining five alternates could
be ungrouped.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 7 SEPTEMBER 2002.
Fellowship applications or any questions pertaining to the Indigenous
Fellowship
Programme should be addressed to:

Indigenous Project Team
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNOG-OHCHR
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Telephone number: + 41-22-917 9434 or 917 9272
Telefax number: +41-22-917 9010
*
*
Denise McVea
Communications Fellow
Indian Law Resource Center
602 N. Ewing Street
Helena, Montana 59601
(406)449-2006
(406)449-2031 fax
www.indianlaw.org


Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism Tel: 001 (775) 835-6932 PO
Box 818 Fax: 001 (775) 835-6934 Wadsworth, NV 89442 Email:
dharry@ipcb.org USA Website: www.ipcb.org