About us

Talent for Governance invests in young talents who believe that local government can make the difference in creating better living conditions in their countries. These young talents need support to realise their ambitions since they often work in extremely difficult circumstances. Not only are they confronted with corruption, weak leadership, unqualified personnel and a lack of resources, they also have to deal with widespread poverty and a lack of basic services in their communities. On top of that, the civil servants do not have access to the knowledge or training facilities needed to face the challenges.

Talent for Governance gives young, ambitious civil servants an opportunity to participate in International Exchange Programmes in The Netherlands, including an internship in a Dutch municipality. The activities help scholars increase their knowledge about subjects such as public service delivery, citizen participation and local economic development. They meet colleagues from abroad and learn from practices in other countries. During the short internship they can take a look into the Dutch local government pratice and at the Talent for Governance network event they can meet and discuss with young colleagues from The Netherlands. The knowledge and experience gained during the Exchange Programme, the best practices, lessons learned and the organisations and projects visited,will help to broaden their horizon, inspire them and at the same time let them think very practically about what fits their own circumstances.

The Talent for Governance Network offers civil servants the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences with colleagues from all over the world. Within the online community, they can develop ideas with other civil servants working in the same field of local governance and make friendships for life.