I celebrate

As many of my friends and colleagues who are faculty at various universities around the world will confirm, there is no higher reward than hearing about wonderful successes of our former students in whatever careers they have chosen to follow, including academia. When I left my last university job, one of the bigger concerns I had was losing the opportunities to directly contribute to the successes of new generations. Now I know I should not have feared. Because in the UN we have plenty of opportunities to enable the professional growth of young people whom we work with while they intern for the UN. As I recently wrote, "interns in the UN are so much more than “an extra set of hands” so critical for delivering on time with what appears to be a chronic staff shortage. Interns are also a source of fresh perspective, technical skills, cultural richness, but very importantly, a fabric to connect into societies and extend our outreach. While they work along with professionals, interns learn about and understand better the core values and mandates of the UN. They get to appreciate what making a difference means on an everyday basis, through small and large projects. Leaving no one behind would be impossible if we had no interns working side-by-side with the UN staff. While they are providing crucial concrete analytical and technical inputs, they also get infected with the “UN bug” to lead towards a better, just and peaceful world." 

You might be asking why I am posting this? Yesterday, I found out that two of my former interns have earned mid-level professional posts with the UN. So, while it does not happen often enough that we succeed in attracting some of those great young people to stay in a job with the UN, every time it does happen should be celebrated.  I celebrate today as our UN family is enriched by two new brilliant colleagues!

* If anyone is interested in internships, more information is available here https://www.unescap.org/jobs/internships