United Nations Public Service Awards - Application Process

Application Process

The application process consists of two steps.

Step 1

An application form has to be completed online. Nominations are allowed to enter the competition in one of the six official United Nations languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish).

Step 2

Upon reception of the applications, the Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) pre-selects nominations. Pre-selected candidates are asked to submit additional information such as a cover letter, letters of reference, supporting documents (e.g., evaluation and audit reports, results of client surveys), etc. DPADM then shortlists candidates on the basis of the documents provided. The short-listed are subsequently considered by the United Nations Committee of Experts in Public Administration. After due consideration, the Committee advises the UN Secretary-General concerning the winners of the Awards.

What supporting documentation is required for the second round?

a)Cover letter

b)Two Letters of Reference

c)Two to five Supporting Documents

What is a Cover Letter?

A letter indicating your initiative and the supporting documentation you are enclosing is needed for verification purposes only if you send documentation by regular mail otherwise you can upload directly on-line the following documentation.

What are Reference Letters?

Two letters of reference: A letter of reference is a letter written by any organization, public or private, different from the institution being nominated, pointing out the valuable achievements resulting from the implementation of the initiative submitted, and underlining why this initiative and/or institution is worthy of being awarded.

What are Supporting Documents?

A minimum of two and up to five supporting documents: Supporting documents are any kind of material (evaluation and audit reports, results of client/citizen surveys, books, DVDs, videotapes, newspaper articles, CD-ROMs, etc.) you may wish to submit to validate and highlight your nomination.

How should the documentation be submitted to the UNPSA Programme?

Pre-selected institutions are strongly encouraged to upload relevant documents in the on-line UNPSA System by using the user ID and password provided in the confirmation e-mail they received after submitting their nomination. Institutions wishing to send by regular mail or FedEx documentation that cannot be uploaded (e.g. books, DVDs, videos, CD-ROMs, etc) should bear in mind that such material has to be received before the deadline.