Human Resources
Human Resource Capacity-building Initiatives for International Civil Aviation
Human Resources Capacity-building Initiatives for International Civil Aviation
Human Resources Development Fund
The Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) for the civil aviation sector in Africa was established as a proactive initiative in support of human capacity development in civil aviation. It was featured at the AFI Week Meeting, held in May in Maputo, Mozambique, in order to increase awareness of it and to gain the support of Member States and industry collaborators. It was clarified that the objective of the HRDF is to provide a mechanism for collecting and using voluntary contributions from States and others to develop opportunities for HR capacity-building in civil aviation in African States. This will assist States in the region to better meet the human resources needs required for the operational efficiency and continuous implementation of ICAO’s Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and other programme activities.
It was further clarified that voluntary contributions to the HRDF will be used to finance the secondments or internships of African professionals working in the civil aviation sector to ICAO Headquarters or its Regional Offices. These secondments and internships will be undertaken in order to upgrade the participants’ overall technical and managerial knowledge, skills and expertise. This exposure will subsequently enable them to contribute with greater expertise to aviation’s overall human capacity on return to their home countries and to better meet the business needs for civil aviation in Africa. Using the voluntary contributions received in 2015, the first intake of African secondments to ICAO is expected to commence in 2016.
Young Aviation Professionals Programme
The tripartite Young Aviation Professionals Programme, established by ICAO in 2013 in collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Airports Council International (ACI), continued to attract qualified candidates of a high calibre from all Member States. The three Young Aviation Professionals selected in 2015 contributed to ICAO’s work programmes relating to aviation safety and economic development of air transport, while enhancing their overall knowledge and experience in international civil aviation, with a particular focus on the inter-relationships between the regulatory activities of ICAO and those of the airline and airport industries.
The recruitment campaign for the third round of selections surpassed the success of the previous two years, drawing an even higher number of applications. The high response to the call for applications is an indication of the growing interest in the programme.
International Aviation Women’s Association
With regard to gender, ICAO continued its partnership with the International Aviation Women’s Association (IAWA) for the promotion and development of women in aviation. Within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding between ICAO and IAWA, which was signed in 2013, an aviation scholarship was granted to a female aviation professional in 2015. She will be commencing her nine-month assignment with ICAO in early 2016. During this period, the scholarship recipient will be able to augment her international experience in aviation by working on specific aspects of the ICAO air navigation work programme. The Organization will continue to offer aviation scholarships to professional women in aviation in order to attract women to ICAO’s work and to foster their overall development.
ICAO Internship Programme
The ICAO Internship Programme continued to grow through the establishment of partnerships with universities and academic institutions. This will generate a sustained recruitment of interns to ICAO in order to meet organizational needs. During 2015, a number of Memoranda of Understanding were signed with universities and academic institutions globally, and the announcement and selection phases of the procedures were initiated. The first group of interns selected through these arrangements are scheduled to arrive in the first quarter of 2016. These partnerships assist ICAO in raising awareness of global aviation issues among young, talented students. With the experience gained, it is anticipated that students who complete an internship with ICAO are likely to be motivated to continue the pursuit of a career in aviation.
In all of the above capacity-building and outreach initiatives, ICAO serves as the platform through which young and talented professionals are given the opportunity to gain regulatory experience. Individuals who are selected to participate in these capacity-building programmes will constitute a pool of potential candidates from which ICAO and Member States, as well as the aviation industry, can draw to meet the emerging needs of the global aviation community.
