The submission of reports is one of the responsibilities accepted by each United Nations fellow. The reports indicated below are needed to determine whether the programme is developing satisfactorily, whether it is concluded successfully, and whether good use is being made of the training abroad. They provide valuable information for future fellowships. They also help in evaluating the contribution United Nations fellowships have made to the economic or social development of the various countries whose nationals have received awards.
Language of Reports
Reports should normally be written in English, French or Spanish. Reports should not be written in any other language without prior authorization by the United Nations.
Progress Report
(a) Half-way through your fellowship, you are expected to submit to your supervisor, in triplicate, a report covering the work accomplished during the first half of your award and giving indications as to the activities envisaged for the remainder of your training programme.
(b) the progress report should be brief but informative on the most significant aspects of your training, on the results achieved and the difficulties encountered, if any.
(c) Travelling fellows should indicate the places, institutions, agencies and projects visited as well as future travel plans and expected changes of address.
(d) Resident fellows in academic institutions should report on the courses for which they have registered and their report should be approved by their supervisor who should attach to it, in duplicate, a certified transcript of examination results or an official statement indicating the student’s progress, as appropriate.
(e) The supervising agency will forward two copies of the progress report to the United Nations.
(f) Fellows whose training programme lasts for less than three months are not required to submit a progress report.
Final Report
(a) At the conclusion of your training programme and before returning home, you must submit to your supervisor a final report in five copies. Four copies will be forwarded by the supervising agency to the United Nations, which will in turn transmit one of these to your Government. If you have received training in more than one country, an extra copy is required for each additional host country, so that your report can be transmitted by the United Nations to the additional supervising agencies concerned.
(b) Your final report should be clear, concise and self-contained. Following a succinct statement of the specific problem or problems which led your Government to nominate you for a United Nations fellowship, you are expected to explain, in specific terms, the benefits derived from your training abroad as well as the difficulties, if any, you have experienced. You should indicate in what manner and to what extent the methods, techniques and practices with which you have become acquainted through the United Nations can be adapted to the conditions prevailing in your country and further its development.
The recommendations and suggestions you may wish to make to your Government should be included in the report, together with your comments justifying them in the light of a realistic appraisal of the limitations imposed by your country’s resources and difficulties of adaptation. The report should also afford a critical evaluation of your training programme. Normally it should not exceed fifteen to twenty pages in length, it being understood that any supporting technical or descriptive material deemed necessary for a full understanding of the conclusions and proposals set forth in it can be attached as annexes. Annexes to the report should include, for instance, a chronological listing of the institutions or agencies and installations or projects which you have visited, and the courses, seminars or meetings in which you have participated.
Follow-up report
The United Nations wishes to remain in contact with you after the termination of your training programme and to be kept informed of how you have been able to use the knowledge acquired during your fellowship to help your country. You should therefore expect to receive, approximately six months after your return home, a post-fellowship questionnaire. This questionnaire, which should be filled in triplicate, seeks to ascertain, from every former United Nations fellow, information on his activities and the use which is being made of the experience acquired during the fellowship. The proper evaluation and sound development of the United Nations fellowship programme and training activities in general, and for future trainees from your country in particular, is dependent upon every fellow’s replying fully to the post-fellowship questionnaire.
Publication of reports
If you wish to publish any of the reports that you have prepared for the United Nations as the holder of a United Nations fellowship, you must obtain approval of the United Nations through the Fellowships Service which will seek the agreement of the Government concerned. You must also preface the published report with the following statement:
“The views expressed in this report are those of the author and not necessarily those of either the United Nations or the authorities of the country or countries whose facilities were made available for the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs.”