Call for Applications

Overview

In 2023, the V20 Finance Ministers of the Climate Vulnerable Forum¹ launched the V20 Climate Prosperity Fellowship Program for finance/economy/planning ministry officials from CVF-V20 Member States. The program was developed in partnership with Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center. The V20’s CPP Fellowship promotes and drives ambitious climate action and supports mobilization of international support for climate threatened nations.

The aim of the V20 Climate Prosperity Fellowship Program is to engender cooperation among V20 Member States and to provide them with the tools to combat challenges they may face in the pursuit of global strategies to avert climate breakdown and to pioneer the development of economic and financial solutions, including the mobilization of domestic climate finance towards climate action.

Through the Fellowship Program, participants will be provided with training and career enhancing opportunities to contribute to the development of strategies for the creation and implementation of Climate Prosperity Plans (CPPs). They will also be well positioned to support their governments in the development and implementation of CPPs and to support their governments in contributing to the creation of a fit-for-climate financial system through implementation of the Accra-to-Marrakech Agenda, which encompasses the following four elements:

1. Make Debt Work for the Climate
2. Transform the International and Development Financial System
3. A New Global Deal on Carbon Financing
4. Revolutionize Risk Management for our Climate Insecure World Economy

2023 – 2024 V20 Climate Prosperity Fellowship 

During the Annual Meetings of the World Bank/IMF in 2023 in Marrakech, the V20 Chair and the partners of the Fellowship Program officially commissioned the Fellowship Program and onboarded 16 fellows from member states as the inaugural batch. Over a 9-month period, the fellows completed four modules covering the following topics: 1. Introduction to International Financial Architecture, 2. Macroeconomic dimensions of climate change, 3. Investments & Project Finance and 4. Negotiations. Additionally, they actively engaged in V20 meetings and other relevant meetings with International Finance Institutions (IFIs) and Civil Society Organization (CSO) meetings, including participation in Civil Society Policy Forum (CSPF) events held during the World Bank Group and IMF Annual Meetings and Spring Meetings. In addition, the fellows spent one week in residency at the Boston University Global Development Policy Center, where they received specialized training in negotiations in different global institutional contexts, learning from seasoned negotiators and honing their skills through hands-on participation in simulations.

The 2024 – 2025 Fellowship Program will onboard the next batch of fellows from member states to advance the following key objectives.

Key Objectives

At the end of the Fellowship, the participants are expected to be well positioned to support resource mobilization for CPPs, by:

• Understanding the international financial architecture and being able to identify opportunities to support climate prosperity;
• Engaging in policy discussions concerning reform of the international financial architecture;
• Harnessing the knowledge and skills needed to engage and access processes associated with the international financial architecture including on debt reform, shifting of financial flows, carbon financing/exchanges and mainstream surveillance of climate risks to drive new investment;
• Identifying and deploying communications tactics to raise awareness of the priorities of climate vulnerable countries in relation to the reform of the international financial architecture; and
• Contributing to the formulation and execution of their countries’ CPP.

Outcomes

• Provide capacity building support to the finance/economy/planning ministries of 16 to 20 V20 member countries by equipping Fellows with skills to pursue the mobilization of financial resources more effectively to support ambitious national climate prosperity plans for development positive climate action.

Key Activities

• Participation in online classes/seminars/workshops and associated Q&A sessions;
• Participation in IMF/World Bank Group Spring and Annual Meetings, especially in V20 Ministerial Meetings, with the support of the V20;
• Participation in a one-day orientation organized around the Annual Meetings 2024;
• Participation in a one-week residency at Boston University following the 2025 Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group;
• Participation in relevant climate-related meetings, supported by the V20;
• Participation in roundtable discussions with international financial institutions and partner groups with the support of the V20;
• Preparation and delivery of presentations during V20 Senior Officials Meetings and relevant V20 workshops and events.

Conditions of Participation

Candidates from Ministries of Finance, Economy, and Planning in V20 Member States who meet the requirements set out below are invited to apply to the 2024-2025 V20 Climate Prosperity Fellowship Program.

• Citizen of a V20 member country;
• Official with demonstrated mid- to senior-level experience (five to ten years’ experience) in international affairs, public policy and/or development, including climate/environmental/sustainable development;
• Official with the background, skills and interest in sovereign debt topics or mobilizing investments;
• Committed to participate in the training sessions organized throughout the year, both online and in-person and to complete and submit assignments as required;
• Willingness to travel abroad to attend international events such as the V20 Ministerial Dialogue at the IMF/World Bank Group Spring and Annual Meetings;
• Commitment to attend scheduled weekly virtual sessions for the duration of the Fellowship period;
• Committed to working and sharing information with their national government and national stakeholders after the completion of the Fellowship;
• Proficient in English
• Fellows who have completed all of the assignments and participation requirements will be awarded with a completion certificate.

How to Apply

Please submit your application, including your CV and Cover Letter through the following link: https://bit.ly/V20Fellowship2024

Should you encounter any issues with google forms, please feel free to send your applications to [email protected]

The deadline for applications is on 14 June 2024.

An endorsement letter from your government will be requested after the first round of selection. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.

Draft Fellowship Timeline:

For more information, we invite you to watch the reflections shared by the V20 Climate Prosperity Fellows 2023-2024 below:

¹The CVF-V20 membership is comprised of 68 countries representing some 1.74 billion people and USD 3.8 Trillion in GDP from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jordan*, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine**, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, and Yemen.

*Pending further discussion. 

**As a UN non-member observer state.