INSIDE VIEW

Addressing worldwide food crises and building resilience

You have a long experience addressing ‘food crises’ in the field. Can you tell us more about your work and how crucial it is to address those crises? I have worked on food crisis contexts for over 25 years. The more I work in this field, the more I realise how much...

Is our investigations process fit for purpose?

It must be understood that disciplinary matters for the United Nations, whilst having some similarities with discipline within national civil services, differ in respect of the inclusion of matters which may be regarded as criminal within a Member State and would be...

There are colors in the clouds: the value of self-reflection

I am conducting single-subject research. Historically, examples of self-experimentation occur more often than one realizes. I note, however, that self-experimentation is also a common trait of comic book mad scientists. That is perhaps the subject of another article....

Chasing James Baldwin in Switzerland

I had not planned to follow in James Baldwin’s footsteps over Easter. Neither had I planned to follow Teju Cole’s or Nativ’s path. But here I was walking amongst the weathered but resilient traditional houses of this spa village of Leukerbad in Switzerland looking for...

Unbelievably yes – there’s racism at the UN

Tell us about yourself My UN career journey has seen me travel from freelance status based in Rome, working mostly for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and for European institutions in Brussels, through to appointment as a staff interpreter at United...

African-American women and sounds of equity in humanitarian space

I thought I had always understood inequity. After all, I am an African-American woman raised in the United States. Racial slurs were hurled at me as early as age five, both by white children and other African-Americans. Their unwanted comments about my hair, skin and...

Lifelong learning without earning isn’t for everyone

One aspect of professional development is ‘continuous learning’. Many corporate entities see this as a great way of increasing their value proposition by encouraging their employees to pay attention to it. Beyond just encouraging people to undertake it, some corporate...

Eliminating racism in our workplaces

2020 saw an unprecedented pandemic and global outcry for racial equality. It reminded us of the health inequalities worldwide, that racial injustice is still quite prevalent in society, and that there remains much collective work to do to advance global racial equity...

Bringing law to the world’s disaster zones

"Now is the time to choose the rocky road instead of the paved path. You may have to move many obstacles on your journey to success, but when you arrive you will be much stronger for the effort.” Ban Ki-moon  My human rights journey began years before I had the words...

INSIDE VIEW

Eliminating racism in our workplaces

2020 saw an unprecedented pandemic and global outcry for racial equality. It reminded us of the health inequalities worldwide, that racial injustice is still quite prevalent in society, and that there remains much collective work to do to advance global racial equity...

Bringing law to the world’s disaster zones

"Now is the time to choose the rocky road instead of the paved path. You may have to move many obstacles on your journey to success, but when you arrive you will be much stronger for the effort.” Ban Ki-moon  My human rights journey began years before I had the words...

Two colleagues and their podcast

Daniel Johnson and Solange Behoteguy-Cortes, Producer and Commentator of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, are the team behind a successful series that has now reached its 50th podcast. How did you come up with the concept for this podcast? Daniel:...

How to foster equity in the UN V2.0

The UN Secretariat, which has been operating now for more than 76 years, employs a large workforce scattered across the globe. Its headquarters is based in New York City and several “offices away from Headquarters (OAH’s) located in Geneva, Vienna, Bangkok, Santiago...

Re-imagining the imperfect UN

The political scientist Thomas Weiss critically asked in his 2018 book: “Would the world be better without the UN?” While the attempt at posing a counterfactual question looks good, in reality it does not really matter how one would answer the question. The truth is...

The UN’s staff selection system should focus on internal talent

Joining the United Nations as a staff member is certainly not the easiest task. It requires (endless) patience and resolve, often leads to frustration, confrontation with very personal and disruptive obstacles, or simply inner resignation. Those who do manage to get a...

The UN’s parental leave policies need to change

In our first article published on 9 November 2021, we relied on our own experiences to raise awareness about the insufficient maternity and paternity leave offered by the UN. We also highlighted the fact that the education grant only applies from the start of primary...

Are unpaid remote internships a new dystopian reality at the UN?

The blue light shines, notifications buzz and emails come in at night because of the time difference. Most of them, like me, need to live with parents to save on rent. They can only engage with UN staff digitally, and they often get long tasks: excel sheets that need...

Pouvoir transformateur de l’éducation

Passionné, M. Yao Ydo sait captiver son auditoire lorsqu’il parle de l’importance d’une éducation adaptée au contexte local. Fort de plus de deux décennies d’expérience au sein de l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’éducation, la science et la culture (UNESCO), et...

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