Empowering African Legal Leaders: Join IPLD 2025 “Africa Plus” – F
The International Programme for Law and Development (IPLD) 2025 “Africa Plus” offers African legal professionals an unparalleled opportunity to use transnational law and international private law to shape impactful reforms and advance global trade and sustainable development in Africa. Enhance your expertise, connect with global leaders, and contribute to a more equitable world.
The IPLD 2025 “Africa Plus”, which represents the 4th, enhanced and expanded edition of the IPLD, is organised by the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) in cooperation with, and thanks to the financial support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation/Directorate General for Development and Cooperation (MAECI-DGCS)
Be part of a distinguished community of over 75 alumni from African jurisdictions who have leveraged IPLD to drive transformative legal change and development. This flagship initiative by UNIDROIT empowers legal professionals with the tools to drive impactful legal reforms and sustainable development.
The International Programme for Law and Development (IPLD), established within the UNIDROIT Academy, aims to bridge the gap between international legal principles of uniform law and their regional implementation. Over the past editions (2022–2024), the programme has empowered over 75 legal professionals from diverse African countries, enabling them to drive impactful legal reforms and foster sustainable development within their jurisdictions.
The IPLD 2025 “Africa Plus” builds on this legacy and, compared to previous editions, offers an enhanced and even more dynamic learning environment combining theoretical insights with practical applications. Additional features include a higher number of participants and further training opportunities such as practical simulations, project tutorship, and workshops. Participants will gain a profound understanding of UNIDROIT’s legal instruments and their relevance in addressing critical global challenges of specific interest to African Countries.
The IPLD 2025 “Africa Plus” will be held from 6 June to 4 July 2025, the first two weeks online and the following three weeks in person at UNIDROIT’s headquarters in Rome, Italy:
Un programme de cours complet et détaillé sera distribué aux candidats retenus.
Langue: anglais seulement
Maximum intake: 30 participants
The programme is intended for legal and judicial professionals, particularly judges, public lawyers, legal officers and experienced legislative drafters from African Countries. The IPLD 2025 Africa Plus’s goal is to provide participants with a thorough understanding of UNIDROIT’s legal instruments for the unification of private and commercial law, focusing on those relevant to global trade investment and sustainable development. The ultimate goal is for participants to use these instruments nationally, regionally, and globally to contribute to the development of their countries while promoting international cooperation and mutual understanding of related matters.
En outre, l’IPLD a l’ambition d’établir un forum communautaire LinkedIn pour nourrir un réseau international de juristes qui s’engagent à faire progresser le droit et le développement en encourageant les participants à échanger des idées et des meilleures pratiques. To this end, the 2025 “Africa Plus” edition will make available to participants a dedicated IPLD digital platform to facilitate the participants’ continuous engagement, networking, sharing of information and experience, and development of specific projects and initiatives, which may extend over the end of the residential weeks and will include previous participants to the programme.
At the end, participants will:
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The syllabus of the programme encompasses a comprehensive range of topics essential for understanding the role of international private law in development:
The course will feature contributions from specialised experts, including high-level judges, academics, and practitioners with different legal backgrounds, representatives of UNIDROIT governing bodies, UNIDROIT lawyers, and officials of other intergovernmental organisations cooperating with UNIDROIT. All lectures will be conducted in English. Through interactive workshops, case studies, and group discussions, participants can apply their knowledge to practical scenarios, thus gaining a deep understanding of the subject matter. Participants will be further required to develop a project focusing on the application or implementation of one or more UNIDROIT instruments in their Country or region under the tutorship of experts from the UNIDROIT Secretariat.
IPLD 2025 “Africa Plus” invites applications from judges, public lawyers, legal officers, and senior legislative drafters across African countries dedicated to advancing the law and sustainable development in their administration and government of provenance. Participants should demonstrate a strong commitment to advancing law and sustainable development in Africa. We strongly encourage applications from women and professionals in so far underrepresented countries to foster diversity and inclusivity in legal development.
To apply for IPLD 2025 “Africa Plus”, candidates must:
Chaque candidat sera évalué sur la base de sa lettre de motivation, de son CV, de sa maîtrise de l’anglais et de la pertinence des instruments d’UNIDROIT dans ses fonctions institutionnelles. Lors de la sélection des candidats, il sera tenu compte de la diversité de leur provenance géographique.
Selected participants will receive detailed guidance on logistics and preparation.
For any inquiries and further information, please send an email to IPLD@unidroit.org.
Une présence à temps plein, tant en ligne que sur place, et une participation active à la réalisation de tous les travaux sont requises pour obtenir le certificat de participation.
Upon completing the programme, participants join a network of over 100 IPLD alumni committed to leveraging legal unification for global progress. Upon completing the programme, alumni can access exclusive benefits, including UNIDROIT’s extensive legal resources, opportunities to co-author research projects, invitations to prestigious events and webinars, and networking opportunities and projects to be developed on the dedicated IPLD digital platform.
The IPLD LinkedIn Community and the dedicated IPLD digital platform aim to foster a global community of like-minded professionals and ensure the programme’s impact extends beyond its duration.
Les participants sélectionnés au Programme sont exonérés de frais de participation.
Les candidats sont fortement encouragés à solliciter un soutien financier auprès d’institutions gouvernementales, de leur employeur ou d’organismes de financement.
UNIDROIT offers limited support for participants during the in-person component of the programme. These provisions include student-level accommodation, contributions to assist with living expenses, and partial cover of travel costs for round-trip travel to and from Rome, which will be granted on a case-by-case basis. In addition, accepted candidates are expected to attend the programme’s online and in-person components to access any contribution.
Le processus de sélection favorisera l’égalité des chances entre hommes et femmes.