Most people find programmes through aggregator sites that copy each other. Better sources exist, and a short vetting routine saves a lot of wasted applications.
Short answer: aggregator sites are useful for discovery and unreliable for detail — they copy each other, and errors propagate. Use them to find the programme's name, then go to the organiser's own page for every fact you rely on. The best sources are institutional: UN agency pages, university international offices, and national youth councils.
They are how most people discover programmes, and they are genuinely useful for that. But they are compiled quickly and copied widely, so a wrong deadline or an outdated eligibility line spreads across a dozen sites and becomes consensus.
Dates drift. Funding descriptions get simplified into "fully funded". Old editions get re-posted with the year changed.
Discovery, yes. Detail, no.
UN agency pages. UNESCO, UNDP, UNEP and the rest publish calls directly. Slower to find, always accurate.
University international offices. Both for their own programmes and for opportunities they nominate students to. Chronically underused by students at the institution itself.
National youth councils. The route into most official delegations, including UN process delegations, which are usually nominated rather than applied for.
Professional bodies and networks. For journalism, research, law and health, the specialist network is where the fellowships are advertised.
Alumni. Someone who attended last year knows when the call opens.
Before investing a day in an application:
Rather than checking sites daily, set alerts for the specific programmes you want and their opening months. Most recur annually within a predictable window, so knowing that a programme opens in February beats refreshing a listing page.
For discovery, yes. For dates, eligibility and funding detail, verify on the organiser's own site — aggregators copy each other and errors spread.
Find the organiser independently of the event, check a real programme is published before payment, look for evidence of previous editions, and verify any claimed UN or institutional affiliation on that body's own website.
Usually national youth councils, accredited observer organisations or official national delegations, rather than open application. Start with the accredited bodies in your country.
Commonly three to six months before the event, largely to allow time for visa processing. Summer programmes often open in the preceding January or February.
Every event page has its own registration form. Places on each programme are limited.
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