Executive SummaryBy October, 2015, it will be three years that the

Federal Government of Nigeria signed a

Memorandum of Understanding with the United

Nations Development Program (UNDP) on the

Junior Professional Officers (JPO) Program. The

initiative was designed to sponsor 37 Nigerian

youths into an international opportunity drenched

program that will make them become Junior

Professional Officers. It is commendable that

Nigeria is the only African country that has signed

into this partnership despite 23 other nations

across the globe having had their youths benefit

from it. But then, what is the need signing a

document if it is not backed with commitment.

YouthHub Africa has followed the budgetary

progress of this program closely in hope that

young people who are beneficiaries will be made

to distil information from the program and share

with other Nigerian youths upon return to the

country. We are particularly concerned that there

has been budgetary allocation for this in 2013 and

2014 while 2015 did not have such provision in the

budget of the Federal Ministry of Youth

Development (FMoYD) which caters for 40% of

the country's population which Nigerian youths

represent. Thus far, 2.1 billion Naira has been

voted for the program without any benefit. More

worrisome is the claim of the Ministry that it is still

in the process of actualising the program in a year

without budgetary provision. We suggest that the

FMoYD express accountability to Nigerians by

making public a comparative data on the amount

budgeted, the amount released and the amount

spent or returned into the coffers of the Ministry of

Finance.

We are convinced that the JPO holds a huge

potential to create a corps of professional youths

and we therefore recommend that budget for it be

inserted into the 2015 supplementary budget and

the FMoYD re-initiate conversation with the UNDP

to bring the program to light.

Introduction In Abuja, on October 29, 2012, the Government of

Nigeria and the United Nations Development

Program (UNDP) signed a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) which opened the way for

Nigeria to sponsor a first batch of 37 young

Nigerians into the Junior Professional Officer's

(JPO) program. The JPO program is administered

by UNDP and its affiliated funds and programmes.

It provides the opportunity for young professionals

to gain valuable experience in the international

environment.

Globally, the JPO program is managed by the

Junior Professional Officer's Program Service

Centres (JPOSC) at the UN offices in

Copenhagen, Denmark. As of June 2015, the

JPOSC provides services to 213 JPOs and 19

SARCs drawn from from 23 nationalities. Among

the participating JPOs, 27% are male while 73%

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POLICY BRIEF - June 2015

are female. The program has so far received

funding support from 16 partner countries and

JPOs are stationed in 11 UN organisations

By joining the JPO program as its 20th donor

country and the only participating African country,

Nigeria has taken a step in providing exposure

and a headstart to the careers of many young

Nigerian and it is hoped that the program would be

credited with availing Nigerians the opportunity for

international careers in the coming years.

Almost three years after the Memorandum of

Understanding was signed between Nigeria and

UNDP and following budgetary allocations to the

project in recent years, YouthHub Africa examines

the implementation of the project in Nigeria and

sought to determine the extent of its impact on

Nigerian youths who constitute 40% of the

population.

Preliminary findings from our study suggest that

although N1,129,331,010 has been allocated to

the project in 2013 and a further N1,000,000,000

Naira in 2014, not a single Nigerian has benefitted

from the JPO program.Curiously, there was no

budgetary allocation to the project in the 2015

budget. furthermore, it is not clear how much of the

appropriated amounts had indeed been disbursed

to the project and what such sums might have

been expended upon.

This policy brief is our modest contribution to the

discussions on pro-youth policy implementation in

Nigeria. In the coming months, we will reflect on

different policy areas including funding and use of

youth centres and share our findings with key

policy makers and implementers as well as the

general public.

Our review of the JPO program in Nigeria involved

a combination of desk reviews of available

information as well as requests for information

from the appropriate stakeholders. Our findings

were based on the fol lowing specif ic

undertakings:

Our Approach

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1. Conduct of a research on the JPO

program: We were unable to trace any

document or report indicating that any

Nigerian has benefitted from the JPO

program under the MoU signed between

the Government of Nigeria and the

UNDP.

2. We emailed with the JPOSC in

Copenhagen to ascertain the status of

the MoU signed with the Nigerian

Government and if any Nigerian had

benefited from the program and were

directed to refer all questions to the focal

person at the Federal Ministry of Youth

Development in Nigeria. We also emailed

other individuals including Nigerians who

have benefitted from the scheme

sponsored by other partner countries,

they were also unaware of any Nigerian

sponsored by the Government of Nigeria

currently in the JPO program

3. We sent a Freedom of Information (FoI)

request to the Federal Ministry of Youth

Development on May 5, 2015 requesting for

information on the JPO program as follows:

● N u m b e r o f N i g e r i a n s

that have taken par t in the

program till date

● N u m b e r o f N i g e r i a n s

t h a t h a v e t a k e n p a r t

based on early

information

● Agenc ies and count r ies

w h e r e N i g e r i a n s a r e

currently deploy

● I f t h e N i g e r i a n J P O

program is still running.

4. After an initial 7 working days provision

made by the FoI Law to receive a

POLICY BRIEF - June 2015

The information sourced from the FMOYD through the FOI request is summarized below:

Our Findings

Question Asked by Youthhubafrica Response Provided by FMOYD

Number of Nigerians that have taken

part in the program till date

Number of Nigerians that have taken part

based on yearly information

Agencies and countries where Nigerians

are currently deployed

Is the Nigerian JPO program still running

No Nigerian has been enlisted in

the program yet

Nigerian JPO program is not an

annual program

No Nigerian is currently deployed to

any agency or country

Nigeria is still in the process of

actualising the program

The confirmation that no Nigerian has currently benefited from the JPO program since inception MoU

was signed in 2012 was received with surprise. This however raises some questions because the

FMOYD in its 2013 and 2014 financial year had budgetary provisions for the JPO program to the tune of

N1,129,331,010 and N1,000,000,000 respectively. This indicates that about 2.1 billion Naira has been

voted to the JPO program without these resources benefitting a single Nigerian. The response by the

Ministry that it is still in the process of actualising the program becomes more curious as the 2015 budget

of the FMOYD has no budgetary provisions for the program. Further indication that the program may

have hit a brick-wall is the website created to receive applications and provide www.fmydjpop.gov.ng

information on the program by the FMOYD has expired.

The following diagram shows key dates and processes in the JPO program in Nigeria

MoU between Nigeria and UNDP signed on October

29, 2012

UNDP Nigeria released a call for application via its website on December 11,

2013

Application closed December 31, 2013

Thousand of applications were received with about 130 persons shortlisted for a final screening and interview in conjunction

with UNDP

Outstanding

· Final Screening and selection of 37 beneficiaries by FMOYD/UNDP

· Deployment of 37 Beneficiaries to their postings at UN offices globally

Source: UNDP Nigeria/JPO Service Centre, Denmark

Amount Budgeted

2013 2014

N1.129 Billion N1 Billion

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response from Government agencies

elapsed, we sent a reminder letter on

May 14, 2015 to the Federal Ministry

of Youth Development. Finally, on

June 1, 2015 the Federal Ministry of

Youth Development responded to

the FoI request.

ConclusionsGiven the limited information we have been able to

gather about the JPO program, it is clear that there

is need for further discussions on the project. We

at Youthhub Africa see the potential of programs

such as the JPO and call for the strengthening and

stronger oversight of the program.

From the information available to us, we are

concerned about the budgetary oversight

process; we raise concern for example as to how a

further one billion Naira could have been allocated

to the project in 2014 without a clear and

exhaustive report on the usage (or non-usage) of

the funds allocated in the preceding budget year.

furthermore, we are concerned that budgetary

allocations such as the two billion Naira allocated

to the JPO scheme in 2013-14 do not tell us much

since it is a known fact that sometimes not all

allocated funds are disbursed. It is likely though

that some disbursements may have been made

since a website was created for the scheme -

however, it is impossible to discuss the efficacy of

the project as it is not known how much was

invested into it in terms of actual amounts spent.

There is need for Nigeria to honour continue to

respect its agreement with international

institutions especially agreements that benefits its

people. Nigeria and its institutions such as the

FMOYD should strive at all times to honour

commitments made internationally in order to

protect the honour and the good name of Nigeria.

Implications and RecommendationOver 2.129 billion Naira was budgeted for the

JPO program between 2013 and 2014, we do

not have data to show how much of the amount

budgeted was released to the Ministry of Youth

and what ratio might have been spent or

returned to the coffers of the State.

There is need to tighten the budget process to

ensure that it presents realistic and feasible

estimates of expenditure. In addition, the

decision on whether additional funds would be

allocated in preceding years or not should be

based on review and evaluation of the

expenditure in the past years. If the decision not

to fund the JPO in 2015 was based on known

lapses, then these ought to be published and if

necessary, Nigeria’s participation in the JPO

scheme should be reviewed.

We recommend that the government of

President Buhari look into the JPO program

and address challenges that might be

observed. Failure to fund the program in 2015

places it in a legal limbo and it is uncertain what

would become of the scheme in future

This program will benefit 37 young Nigerians

and we ask that the Government of Nigeria

prioritise it as one of its youth development

programs by including it in the 2015

supplementary budget or the 2016 budget

ABOUT YOUTHHUB AFRICAYouthHubAfrica also known as Youth Foundation for Development, Education and Leadership is

a networked community that seeks to create a platform for young people in Africa involved in

social change to interact, learn and collaborate in new ways. Established in 2012,

youthhubafrica.org has emerged as one of the largest continental platforms in Africa providing

information and opportunities for youth and also a point of entry into policy and decision-making

processes at the continental and global levels. Her services include profiling young people

involved in social change on the African continent, connecting youth in Africa to resources and

opportunities, providing linkages between youth leaders in Africa, providing platforms and

opportunities for learning and a hub for youth development in Africa. YouthhubAfrica's vision is to

see young people taking front rows seats on development issues on the African continent. Her

mission is to equip and celebrate a new generation of African thinkers, leaders and innovators.

Contact: No. 6, Ibani Close, Off Crown Court Estate, behind VIO Office, Mabushi Abuja

Phone: +2349098044444, +2349097644444 Email: policy@youthhubafrica.org,

info@youthhubafrica.org www.youthhubafrica.org

@youthhubafrica /youthhubafrica @youthhubafrica

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