United Nations Career Journey Podcast

“I came back from the field with this renewed, shining hope in our Organization and our ability to help people around the world” says Lucas Allner who has worked in Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Central African Republic and Haiti.  Have you wondered how some colleagues make several transcontinental moves or leap across job networks?  Learn from Lucas’ perspectives on movement and flexibility. To him, “work...

What does a job of a Deputy Resident Representative look like? Listen to the story of Margaret Jones Williams, an environment and development professional from UNDP Country Office Suriname. Margaret shares her career transition from academia to working in UNDP with climate change adaptation projects, Indigenous communities and much more. Tune in now and get inspired by her take on creating a succe...

Meet Paul Anderton, joining us from UNDP Copenhagen, Denmark. Paul's inspirational career path has included a diversity of work locations and positions. It began in an English town, continued through 11 different countries, and is currently focused on managing the Leadership Development team in the UNDP's Talent Development Unit. We discuss the variety of tasks Paul's role entails, how...

“It's the work that you find passion in. The work that will get you up in the morning” says Raquel Frederick when describing the concept of 'sacred work'. Tune in to hear insightful reflections about her first Secretariat posting in Rwanda. Also hear about her idyllic childhood in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – where her interest in the 'blue economy' first began. Listen to...

Meet Mihail, joining us from UNDP Istanbul Regional Centre. Mihail's inspiring career journey spans across multiple duty stations and roles - starting as an economist to now working hands-on with sustainable development goals (SDGs). In this episode, you get to learn more about effective career planning, using career self-assessment tools, mentoring, and much more.  Tune in now and find the li...

“The girls tell me: you are our role model…we want to be like you when we grow up.” says Sanaa Kareem, about her work in coordinating young volunteers. Sanaa’s job sounds equally important and interesting as Youth Advisor, Gender Focal Point and Associate Public Information Officer for UNAMI in Baghdad. An Iraqi native, she shares fascinating vignettes about overcoming personal challenges, her pri...

"L'apprentissage continue...c'est une panacée pour nous permettre d'être au top, d'être proactif, d'anticiper sur les défis auxquels nous pouvons être confrontés." Écoutez l'histoire fascinante de Mamadou Ndaw, un professionnel passionné du Bureau des politiques et de l’appui aux programmes (BPPS) du PNUD. Travaillant auparavant en tant que conseiller régional, ma...

Meet Osee, a recruit from the Central African Republic through the UN Secretariat’s Young Professionals Programme (YPP). After passing the highly competitive YPP exam he joined the Economic Commission for Africa in March 2020, just as Covid-19 was shutting the world down. Hear about how he adapted and is thriving today in his information technology role and in his family life in Ethiopia. Listen t...

“It gives me a lot of satisfaction…I feel very proud to serve in an organization that discourages and in the long run seeks to eliminates sexual exploitation and abuse” says Pamela Nkonge, an Investigator with Internal Oversight in Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) in Nairobi. Learn about her passion for bringing justice to victims and her pride in the organization she dreamed of as a y...

Curious about staff who change jobs and duty stations every few years?  Listen to the remarkable career path of lawyer Quynh Tran. Quynh Tran is the Humanitarian Affairs Officer in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in New York. She has worked in humanitarian affairs, peacekeeping finance, evaluation and human resources across four duty stations – while raising three ch...

What skills do Political Affairs Officers need?  Hear from Matteo Bezzi in central Colombia ( UNVMC ), a Political Affairs Officer at UNVMC-Colombia, about the active listening skills and emotional intelligence required for talking to and reintegrating FARC-EP ex-combatants. He shares about the most satisfying aspects of his job – the deep knowledge and relationships he’s built over the years. You...

Thank you for listening to the fascinating Career Journeys this 2021. Special thanks to our guests for sharing and inspiring! We are looking forward to starting this 2022 with a UN Secretariat Podcast season in our special collaboration!  Access through this link to all our episodes transcripts in Medium !

“An employee can thrive if the workplace is a safe space, a safe space to express yourself.” Learn more about this with Luciano, a passionate D&I professional from UNFPA (UN ) who shares with us valuable insights about pursuing a career within the UN. Listen to the full episode and find this link of the transcription of the episode !

Do you know what a career on the field within crises scenarios looks like? Learn more about it at this episode through Sudhir’s valuable insights. Listen to the full episode and find the transcription link here !

Mirko shares with us valuable insights of how you can start a career within UN and different aspects entailed within in it. As part of the JPO programme, he contributes through innovation across many countries. Listen to the full episode to discover what it is like to be part of an Accelerating Lab at UNDP & find a transcription of the episode here!

Have you ever stopped to wonder what exactly success means to you? Do you think it has to do only with performances and budget? Listen to this episode to find out what success means to Alissar Chaker, Resident Representative at UNDP Tunisia and how she aligns her personal values to the work she does at UNDP. You can find the transcripts of this episode here .

Being a graphic design and communication intern at UNDP is not only about creating a beautiful design, but rather a design that gets attention of the right target audience and communicates the right values. Listen to the full episodes to discover what it is like to be an intern at a people-centred organization. You can find the transcripts of this episode here .

Una gran idea para impulsar tu carrera es tener una o un mentor/ mentora, además de la inspiración y aprendizaje que puedes obtener puede ser una gran fuente de apoyo. Esto, y recordar que tu carrera y vida van a salir bien y, que también es importante disfrutar el momento es lo que escucharás en nuestro episodio con Alejandro. ¡Escuha aquí el episodio completo y encuentra el transcripción del epi...

Being focused on your capacities, skills and goals is pivotal to make your achievements speak for themselves, no matter your age or gender! Listen to the full episode to discover the great career tips Nesreen shares with the audience on learning from failure and being resilient! You can find the transcripts of this episode here .

'Life sometimes takes us in different directions. If you do something that you like, you will succeed in it.' When it comes to career, we all know passion and interests are key drivers in achieving success because they creates purpose. Purpose in turn creates focus, focus leads to results and results will normally move us closer to the fulfillment of our goals. Listen to the full episode t...

‘If there is something you like and you really want to do, you need to be persistent and work on yourself, your skills and competences to achieve it.’ Listen to the full episode and identify your career drivers! You can find the transcript of this episode here .

Have you ever heard about the 5 Cs? Creativity and communication are two of the five competences you need to master to stay relevant in today’s competitive job market. Do you want to know how you can leverage these skills to improve your performances? Listen to the full episode to discover the useful tips shared by Yrika! Yrika Maritz is the Head of Experimentation at the UNDP Accelerator Lab. You...

Listen to this episode to discover Marvin’s career journey, from a volunteering opportunity to his brilliant work with UNDP. Being proactive, seizing learning opportunities and jumping into new challenges are critical steps you need to take your career to the next level. Long story short: Always give it a try! You can find the transcripts of the episode here .

Working as a learning content creation and editing intern at UNDP is a great opportunity to make an impact that matters on colleagues’ career journeys! Personal and professional empowerment are key elements to embrace change and stay competitive in the new normal. Listen to this episode to learn more.  You can find the transcripts of this episode here .

International exposure, global leverage and huge responsibility. Working at UNDP means all of this and much more. Listen to this episode to find out how continuous learning and networking play a big part in Catalina’s career journey! You can find the transcripts of the episode here .