L’Alliance des civilisations des Nations Unies lance un appel à candidature pour le programme de bourses 2015 (Offre en anglais) عودة إلى الفرص

The United Nations Alliance Of Civilizations is now selecting emerging leaders and young professionals from the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and North America to participate in the 2015 edition of the Fellowship Programme.

With the objective of fostering intercultural dialogue and interfaith understanding, the Fellowship offers its participants a first hand exposure to diversity and the opportunity to experience cultural immersion while interacting with a wide range of actors and partners.

Participants from Europe and North America (EUNA) and from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will travel for two weeks to their counterparts’ region where they will acquire crucial knowledge and experience to understand their host countries’ culture, society and diversity. 

The Fellowship Programme

The UNAOC Fellowship Programme aims at fostering intercultural exchange and interfaith understanding by engaging with emerging leaders and young professionals from across the world. The Programme is framed around a two-week exchange trip to Europe and North America and to the Middle East and North Africa between two groups of participants from both regions. The Fellowship offers its participants a first hand exposure to diversity and the opportunity to experience cultural immersion while interacting with a wide range of local actors and partners. In every country visited, fellows are being provided with crucial comprehension tools to understand the plurality and the complexity of their surroundings.

Over the years, and after 12 editions, the Programme has developed a global and plural Alumni network committed to spread awareness and understanding between peoples and societies of different cultures and religions. After their trip, participants will join this multicultural pool of 136 Alumni working actively to encourage intercultural dialogue and cooperation within their community and across the world.

Ten to twelve participants from Europe, North America on one end, and from the Middle East and North Africa on the other end, will travel for two weeks to their counterparts’ region. During their trip, participants will interact with actors from various backgrounds in order to get an extensive grasp of their host country’s culture, politics, society, religion, media and more.

The main objective of the Fellowship is to involve participants into intercultural cooperation and interfaith dialogue, and encourage them to engage in broader and deeper discussions on cultural awareness and sensitivity. By exposing fellows to new ideas and perspectives, and by immersing them into culturally diverse and unfamiliar environments, the Fellowship Programme aims at challenging perceptions and deconstructing stereotypes. Building on that first step, participants are then better qualified to develop cross-cultural partnerships in their fields of expertise and take action on bridging divides between peoples from different religions and origins.

In 2015, MENA participants’ trip to EUNA countries will focus on a specific sub-theme:

Migration and Integration. There are four main reasons behind such choice. First, Migration is one of UNAOC main pillars of action (along with Youth, Education, and Media). Second, this topic is at the center of current events in EUNA countries where the issue has become a focus of attention in media and political debates. Third, it remains broad enough to allow interaction with a wide range of actors, while ensuring effective exchanges and activities on the ground and across countries. Fourth, an important number of Alumni are themselves involved in the field of
Migration and Integration. Their expertise will add a unique value to the content of the Programme, while strengthening the bounds between former and new participants from both regions around common values and interests.

However, the agenda will also give central attention to more general aspects related to cultural interactions between EUNA and MENA societies, and will allow participants to meet with a variety of local partners in order to get a more nuanced understanding of the complexity of their surroundings. During their trip, fellows will meet with actors from different background, such as government officials, international organizations, community leaders, local entrepreneurs, civil society groups, media, and more.

The goal of this two-week trip is to enable participants to position themselves as informed stakeholders and to develop partnerships between both regions while reinforcing positive exchanges and cooperation. At the end of their trip, participants will have to write a collective report on Migration and Integration, assessing the situation, identifying key actors and challenges, and proposing an action plan to improve intercultural collaboration in the field of Migration and Integration.

Evaluation Criteria

Through this evaluation process, the selection jury will be looking for applicants with strong interest in learning more about EUNA countries and their cultures. To be selected, participants should have concrete ideas on how to engage with peers and partners from EUNA countries.

The jury will also be assessing professional accomplishment and personal involvement in the field of Migration and Integration, and will look for applicants with potential of shaping opinion and taking strong initiatives within their community. Shortlisted candidates might be contacted for a 10-minute Skype or phone interview.

Selection process

For applications meeting the eligibility criteria, a selection jury composed of UNAOC staff, Migration and Integration experts and professionals, and other relevant partners, will review each submission through a double-blind review process.

While selecting participants, the jury will also make sure to apply the following requirements for
each cohort to be:

• Gender balanced
• Region balanced between participants from North Africa and the Middle East
• Limited to two participants per country
• Professionally balanced with no more than a third of the participants working in the same industry.

To preserve the above-mentioned balance and to ensure the quality and diversity of participants, the selection jury will select the next highest scoring candidate to replace the lowest scoring redundant candidate.