Third Millennium Foundation Human Rights Fellowships 2008-9: A Commitment to Global Human Rights

The Third Millennium Foundation (TMF) established its Human Rights Fellowships in 2004 in order to support young social entrepreneurs to become human rights leaders. The TMF Human Rights Fellowships provide one year of financial support to recently graduated students (undergraduate and graduate), during which they spend six months interning with a NGO in the Global North and six months with an NGO in the Global South. Preference is given to work with a grassroots organization. One of the NGOs should be located in the country where the Fellow intends to pursue her/his professional career.

Although the fellowships were originally designed to provide support to recently graduated students in the United States and Europe, their focus has expanded. Since 2007, the TMF Human Rights Fellowships took a further step toward TMF’s global commitment by soliciting applications from candidates in the Global South in addition to the Global North.

Through the unique design of this program, TMF Human Rights Fellows are not only able to gain valuable experiences in human rights, they are also able to help build the capacity of local, national, and international NGOs. The program builds North-South networks, collaborations, and friendships and provides young leaders frontline experience in human rights advocacy. By relying on relationships with partner universities throughout the world, the TMF Fellowships further strengthen the relationships between on-the-ground human rights work and academia.

Overview of the Program

The TMF Human Rights Fellowships are administered by the Center for the Study of Human Rights (CSHR) at Columbia University. TMF and CSHR work with partner universities in the Global North and Global South to solicit applications. The listing of partner universities is updated annually. Only candidates from partner universities will be considered for the Fellowship. Candidates interested in applying should review the application guidelines below.

CSHR and the partner universities will advise finalists on the development of a full-year work plan, including identifying appropriate partner NGOs, establishing contacts, and outlining expectations for the Fellowship year. Once the project has been determined feasible, finalists will officially be awarded with the Fellowship. The program begins in August or September in the year of the award. CSHR and the partner universities will provide mentorship to the Fellows throughout their Fellowship.

2008-9 Partner Universities

Students must apply through their university.

Ideal Candidates

The TMF Human Rights Fellowship program is designed to support young and innovative recent university graduates who have the potential to play leadership roles in the advancement of human rights. The ideal candidates have demonstrated a strong commitment to human rights.

The Fellowship targets recent university graduates rather than those who have been working for some time. The Fellowship is only open to those who have completed their degrees prior to the start of the Program. The Selection Committee will only consider applications from those who have graduated no more than nine months before the start of the first round of placements for the Fellowship cycle, in August each year.

Although the Fellowship is primarily designed to launch young graduates into a human rights-related career, it is also intended to provide support to the organizations and communities in which the Fellows work. Thus support will not be given for projects that are primarily academic in focus or those that are not connected to the ongoing work of existing organizations.

Fellows must be in a position to make a meaningful contribution to the organizations that they join. This can take several forms, but typically would not include circumstances where Fellows fill pre-existing positions in an organization. Applicants should consider how the pairing of organizations in the Global South and North could, itself, provide benefits to the organizations or the community in which Fellow works.

Preference will be given to projects with grassroots organizations. Applicants are encouraged to seek groups beyond the well-established professional organizations in human rights and to find organizations whose structure and mandate are directly responsive to the communities they intend to benefit. Since the training experience offered by the well-established NGOs and the advantages which they provide to grassroots groups are also valuable, many Fellows have combined the two.

The range of reasonable project proposals is extremely broad. They all involve some combination of a substantive goal and a host organization that will support its achievement. But in some cases, the goal may be that of the organization; in other cases, the applicant may propose the organization as a vehicle for work that would not otherwise take place within the organization. Projects should not be either pure research or pure service delivery, but a combination of the two.

Concerning the elaboration of the project design, candidates are not required to submit fully developed projects. Realizing that students often do not have the contacts and exposure to develop the best possible projects, CSHR provides support to short-listed candidates to advise and assist in identifying appropriate placements.

Application Requirements

Only graduating students and recent graduates from partner universities will be considered. Applicants must apply through their university’s application process.

  1. Complete Application Form available at: http://www.seedsoftolerance.org/docs/cshr_fellowship_app.pdf
  2. Detailed resume or curriculum vitae, including relevant human rights experience and studies.
  3. Official university transcript(s).
  4. A personal statement (maximum 1000 words) about the applicant’s relevant experience, interest, and future aspirations with respect to human rights work. The statement should include a discussion of how the Fellowship aligns with the applicant’s career plans.
  5. An project statement (maximum 750 words) that serves as a project proposal or statement of interest specifying particular thematic or regional interests and proposed areas of work for both fellowship placements.
  6. Two or three letters of recommendation, at least one from a professor familiar with the applicant’s studies.

Deadline for applications is February 1, 2008.

Applications and inquiries should be sent electronically to , by fax to + 1-212-316-4578 or in hard copy to:

TMF Human Rights Fellowship Selection Committee
Center for the Study of Human Rights
1108 IAB, MC: 3365
Columbia University
New York , NY 10027

For more information please visit our website at http://www.seedsoftolerance.org/cshr_fellow.html

Inquiries should be sent electronically to .

No phone calls please.