OHCHR Indigenous Fellowship Program 2027 in Switzerland | Fully Funded

The OHCHR Indigenous Fellowship Program 2027 in Switzerland is designed to provide indigenous people with an opportunity to learn about the United Nations system and mechanisms dealing with human rights and the rights of Indigenous Peoples. This fully funded fellowship is open to Indigenous persons who have a good working knowledge of English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese. You will spend a four-week training program in Geneva, where you will gain knowledge about human rights and Indigenous rights issues. The fellows will also have the opportunity to actively participate in the annual session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), which usually takes place in June/July.

The United Nations fellowship opportunity in Geneva commenced in 1997 under the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) during the first International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People. The program aims to provide Indigenous persons with the opportunity to learn about the United Nations system and mechanisms that deal with human rights in general and the rights of Indigenous Peoples in particular. Trained participants are expected to assist their organizations and communities in promoting and protecting their rights after completing the programme.

The selection for the fully funded UN fellowship in Geneva reflects gender and regional balance, as well as a balance between the communities represented. In addition, the general human rights situation in the respective regions and countries is also taken into consideration during the selection process. A pre selection of 15 to 20 candidates per language group is carried out by previous Indigenous fellows. The selection process also includes interviews of pre selected candidates who applied to the English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese language components of the programme. The final selection is reviewed by an advisory group composed of OHCHR staff.

The right to food, health, education, work, and liberty are fundamental human rights that belong to everyone without discrimination based on nationality, sex, origin, ethnicity, religion, or language. If any of these rights are denied, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides the foundation for their protection. These rights are interdependent, and the enjoyment of one right depends on the protection of the others. The OHCHR Indigenous Fellowship Programme helps equip Indigenous participants with the knowledge and skills to support and promote the human rights of their communities, contributing to positive change around the world.