The Africa Region of the World Bank Group (WBG) is announcing the third Africa Fellowship Program for Ph.D. students and recent graduates who are Sub-Saharan nationals. The program intends to attract young African talent to the World Bank Group workplace.
This year, the program is run by the World Bank’s Office of Chief Economist for Africa in collaboration with the Fragility, Conflict & Violence (FCV) Unit. Started in 2013 by World Bank Africa Vice President Makhtar Diop, the World Bank Group Africa Fellowship Program aims to build a pipeline of Sub-Saharan African researchers and professionals, particularly women, who are interested in working in the development field at home or abroad, and in starting careers with the WBG. Many graduates of the fellowship program have gone on to join the WBG, and others have pursued promising development careers around the world.
About the Fellowship
Fellows will spend a minimum of six months at the World Bank offices in Washington, D.C. or in field offices, getting hands-on experience in development work. This includes knowledge generation and dissemination, design of global and country policies, and the building of institutions to achieve inclusive growth in developing countries. While benefitting from research and innovation in multiple sectors, fellows will also work on research, economic policy, technical assistance, and lending operations that contribute to the World Bank goal of eliminating poverty and increasing shared prosperity.
This year, thanks to a generous contribution from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), there are 10 additional fellowship positions with a special focus on forced displacement. The 10 selected fellows will work on forced displacement research in the context of operations led by the World Bank Group (WBG) or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East. For these additional 10 positions, candidates from refugee and internally displaced communities and/or with proven experience on forced displacement will be given a priority. Selected candidates with a strong interest in the area of forced displacement will work on research programs targeting refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and host communities.
Fellows will be expected to complete a research project or prepare a research paper to present to staff. High-standard papers may be published internally. Specifically, selected participants will:
- Gain a better understanding of the World Bank Group’s mission and operations
- Access quality data for their research work
- Interact with seasoned experts in the field of development
- Contribute to the World Bank Group’s mission
Who Should Apply
Sub-Saharan nationals who are recent Ph.D. graduates, or current doctoral students within a year of completing or graduating from a Ph.D. program in the following fields: economics, applied statistics and econometrics, impact evaluation, education, health, energy, agriculture, infrastructure, demography, forced displacement, and all relevant development fields.
Candidates must:
- be a recent PhD. graduate or be enrolled in an academic institution as a PhD. student and returning to university after the fellowship
- have an excellent command of English, both written and verbal
- possess strong quantitative and analytical skills
- Be born on or after October 1, 1986
The following additional attributes are highly desirable:
- a command of an additional World Bank official language
- national from fragile and conflict-affected countries
- candidates from refugee and internally displaced communities and/or with proven experience on forced displacement
Selection Process
The deadline to submit an application is November 19, 2017. After applying online, the most suitable candidates will be identified, and their application packages forwarded to World Bank Africa Region managers and participating departments for consideration. Departments and managers will then indicate their preferences, as well as the project to be undertaken.
Selected candidates will then be notified and, upon acceptance, will be hired as short-term consultants for a minimum of six months. Fellows will receive consultant fees, round-trip economy class air travel to Washington, D.C. or a WBG country office from their university, and worker’s compensation insurance.