UN MEMORIES
Mother language cannot and should not be replaced: it conveys history, culture, traditions, and sometimes drives political movements. Words also matter when they are linked to human rights: they often represent fights for equity and against unacceptable injustices. I...
When mankind became too pushy, you may recall from the biblical story, they were thwarted in their ambitions by the divine imposition of multiple languages. So, they could no longer understand each other and the Tower of Babel collapsed, together with humanity’s reach...
Not all careers at the UN are adventurous. Not all deal with more or less impossible conflict resolutions, nor with sensitive endless negotiations, even less with exciting ‘Ian Fleming’ style jobs. Most UN staff serve the organization very discreetly, performing...
I was 42 years old when I was transferred from the UN Secretariat in New York to the UN Development Programme (UNDP). Having moved up over 15 years through a variety of jobs in Conference Services, Administration and Management, and the Cabinet of the Director-General...
In 2006, when the “One UN” initiative was launched with trumpets, I was an enthusiastic cheerleader ready to shout: “UN agencies, unite!.” Working at UNCTAD I was well placed to understand that the universe of development issues is like a puzzle with an infinite...
1994-Haïti. Après trois ans de pouvoir des militaires, le gouvernement des États-Unis, appuyé par la communauté internationale, avait entrepris de chasser les factieux et de financer les élections constitutionnelles pour rendre au pays ses institutions malmenées par...
Only animals were not expelled from Paradise My first UN job was as a Junior Professional Officer with UNDP in Lesotho (1976-78). The Assistant Representative was telling me stories about his previous post in Somalia, how he was expelled for spying because he had been...
Can the international civil service thrive without staff unions post-COVID? A wave of voluntary resignations of many employees has been reported post-COVID, called the “Great Resignation” in the USA. There is also an increase in strikes and unionisation. These...
Un destin international dans la Genève locale Rien, dans ma formation ne me prédisposait à m’intéresser à la Genève internationale. Je suis entré au service de la Ville de Genève d’abord en qualité de juriste du Conseil administratif, puis Secrétaire général adjoint,...
UN MEMORIES
When mankind became too pushy, you may recall from the biblical story, they were thwarted in their ambitions by the divine imposition of multiple languages. So, they could no longer understand each other and the Tower of Babel collapsed, together with humanity’s reach...
Not all careers at the UN are adventurous. Not all deal with more or less impossible conflict resolutions, nor with sensitive endless negotiations, even less with exciting ‘Ian Fleming’ style jobs. Most UN staff serve the organization very discreetly, performing...
I was 42 years old when I was transferred from the UN Secretariat in New York to the UN Development Programme (UNDP). Having moved up over 15 years through a variety of jobs in Conference Services, Administration and Management, and the Cabinet of the Director-General...
In 2006, when the “One UN” initiative was launched with trumpets, I was an enthusiastic cheerleader ready to shout: “UN agencies, unite!.” Working at UNCTAD I was well placed to understand that the universe of development issues is like a puzzle with an infinite...
1994-Haïti. Après trois ans de pouvoir des militaires, le gouvernement des États-Unis, appuyé par la communauté internationale, avait entrepris de chasser les factieux et de financer les élections constitutionnelles pour rendre au pays ses institutions malmenées par...
Only animals were not expelled from Paradise My first UN job was as a Junior Professional Officer with UNDP in Lesotho (1976-78). The Assistant Representative was telling me stories about his previous post in Somalia, how he was expelled for spying because he had been...
Can the international civil service thrive without staff unions post-COVID? A wave of voluntary resignations of many employees has been reported post-COVID, called the “Great Resignation” in the USA. There is also an increase in strikes and unionisation. These...
Un destin international dans la Genève locale Rien, dans ma formation ne me prédisposait à m’intéresser à la Genève internationale. Je suis entré au service de la Ville de Genève d’abord en qualité de juriste du Conseil administratif, puis Secrétaire général adjoint,...
It was Beethoven’s 5th Symphony; I remember the opening chords… Solemn, stern, powerful, the notes filled the hall with a vibrancy unusual for the setting. It was not the score that surprised me; it was the harmony that emerged as the music filled a space that started...
Relever le défi pour se faire une place Après l’Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas, j’avais reçu une offre de contrat de courte durée au BIT après un stage au service juridique. C’était le début d’une carrière pleine de défis et de combats acharnés mais qui est...
