Deadline: September 24, 2026
Applications are open for the WTO Youth Talent Incubator Programme 2026. The WTO Youth Talent Incubator Programme is dedicated to equipping young professionals with the skills needed to advance gender equality in global trade, providing them with mentorship, capacity building and networking opportunities.
The WTO Youth Talent Incubator Programme builds on the legacy of the Youth Trade Summit on Gender, which brought together fifty young professionals from academia, research, and government in November 2023. Launched in July 2024, the programme’s first edition ran for over eleven months, strengthening participants’ knowledge and professional skills through mentorship, applied policy research, training, and networking, with the results presented at the WTO Informal Working Group in December 2025.
The Second Edition carries this mission forward, continuing to build the next generation of gender-responsive trade professionals through mentorship, applied research, and capacity-building at the intersection of trade and gender, and will run from 12 October 2026 to 30 June 2027. This edition will be conducted entirely in a virtual format.
Programme Structure
- Pillar 1: Mentorship – Personalized career mentorship sessions led by experienced professionals, with activities such as idea labs, role-playing scenarios, one-on-one mentoring, and career story sharing.
- Pillar 2: Capacity building – Practical training in economic research, policy drafting, and effective communication on trade and gender through targeted workshops.
- Pillar 3: Networking – Virtual networking, peer exchanges, and career sessions connecting participants with experts, fostering collaboration, and building professional networks in trade and gender.
Cost
- The programme will be held and delivered entirely online and is cost-free.
Eligibility
- Open to young professionals with the skills needed to advance gender equality in global trade.
- Applicants may apply from anywhere in the world.
Application
The application deadline is September 24, 2026. Late applications will not be considered.
For more information, visit WTO Youth Talent Incubator Programme.
