UNITED NATIONS FELLOWSHIPS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

AWARDED TO CANDIDATES FROM 18 COUNTRIES

GENEVA, 16 April (UN Information Service) -- The Selection Committee of the United Nations Fellowship Programme in International Law met in New York on Tuesday, 9 April 2002, under the chairmanship of Hans Corell, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel.

The Committee awarded 18 fellowships (nine male, nine female) to candidates from the following countries:  Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Chile, Croatia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Iran, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sudan and Yemen.

The United Nations Fellowship Programme in International Law was launched in 1965 under the United Nations Programme of Assistance for the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law. The United Nations Office of Legal Affairs and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) organize the programme on an annual basis.

The aim of the Fellowship Programme is to enable qualified professionals from developing countries and countries in socio-economic transition, in particular mid-level government officials and university professors of international law, to acquire additional knowledge about international law and the legal work of the United Nations and its associated bodies.

To qualify for the fellowships, candidates should normally be law graduates with practical experience in the field of international law, acquired by working for a public or private organization or a university.  Eligible participants should be between 24 and 40 years of age.

One hundred and forty-eight persons from 65 countries filed their applications for the 2002 Programme.  Nominations were received from 87 male candidates and 61 from female candidates.  Applications were submitted from the following regions:  48 from Africa, 31 from Asia and the Pacific, 31 from Eastern and Central Europe, seven from the Middle East, 25 from Latin America and the Caribbean, and six from Western European and Other States.

For the ninth consecutive year, self-funded observers have also been granted access to the Programme.  To apply for participation, they must have the same qualifications as the other participants.  This year, they come from the following countries:  Cyprus, Egypt, Israel and New Zealand.

The Fellowship Programme will take place in The Hague, Netherlands, from    8 July to 16 August 2002.  The working language of the 2002 Programme is English. The 2003 Programme will be conducted in French.