How long to wait to get a job at the un. How to take part in UN humanitarian and peacekeeping operations, with further employment in the UN? Jordan: curbing global warming

Working in a team with people from different parts of the world, participating in decision-making that affects global politics, traveling to different countries - a career in international organizations has a number of advantages.

There is no universal recipe for making a career in an international organization. "Viele Wege führen nach oben," says Hans Willmann, host of the podium discussion "Careers in International Associations and Organizations" at the German Foreign Ministry at the end of January. "There are many paths leading to the cherished goal", but these are not always wide straight highways with signs; often you have to tread a bypass path on your own - through practices, internships and volunteer programs.

United Nations

United Nations building in New York

The United Nations, the largest international organization, needs no special introduction. Created at the end of World War II, today it has 192 countries, including Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Germany. The working languages ​​of the UN are English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish.

"The United Nations Secretariat is constantly looking for knowledgeable and hardworking specialists of various profiles from different regions of the world," - these words open the "Employment Opportunities" section on the organization's official website. Getting into the UN is not easy, but nothing is impossible. In order to maintain a "geographical balance", the selection of employees to the UN Secretariat is carried out on a national basis within the framework of the National Competitive Recruitment Examinations (NCRE) program.

Every year, the organization's website publishes a list of countries whose citizens can apply for employment in the most important body of the UN. Russia and Germany are widely represented in the Secretariat, so in 2009 neither Russians nor Germans were recruited. "At the moment, the recruitment system in the UN Secretariat is being reformed. The electronic system "Galaxy" in the spring of 2010 will be replaced by a new, improved program," - says an employee of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Theresia Redigolo (Theresia Redigolo). She advises to regularly visit the organization's website and check if there are any quotas for recruiting employees from your country in the current year. The start of the qualifying round for the NCRE program is in August.

Practice at the UN

Getting an internship at the United Nations is easier than getting a job there. For example, an internship at the New York headquarters is theoretically open to any senior student who is studying a specialty related to the work of the UN (international relations, law, economics, political science, journalism, demography, translation, public administration), is fluent in English or French and ... able to independently take care of the financing of the practice.

The UN budget does not include funds for the payment of fees to interns. Experts estimate the cost of living in New York at five thousand dollars a month. If this amount did not scare you away - the next deadline for applying for a two-month internship in New York (The United Nations Headquarters Internship Program) in September-November 2010 is mid-May.

You can, of course, find a city where the cost of living is not as high as in New York for an internship at the UN or one of the related organizations (UNICEF, UNESCO, WTO and others). For example, Nairobi, Madrid, Hamburg, Bangkok or Turin. A list of current vacancies can be found at the link at the bottom of the article.

OSCE

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe includes 56 countries, including Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Germany. The history of the OSCE goes back to 1973-1975, when at the peak of the Cold War the warring parties at a meeting in Helsinki decided to conclude a truce. The goals of the organization are conflict prevention and crisis management. The official languages ​​are English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Russian.

Christo Polendakov

A great way to try out for the OSCE is the Junior Professional Officer (JPO) program. "The program includes three months of work in the secretariat in Vienna and six months of so-called "field work" in the OSCE representations in Central Asia, the Caucasus, South-East Europe or the Balkans," says Head of the OSCE Recruitment Section Kristo Polendakov ( Christo Polendakov).

Participants of the JPO program receive about a thousand euros per month. "This is not a lot of money, but practice shows that this is enough. The main "profit" of the program interns is the experience gained," adds Kristo Polendakov. This experience provides, according to him, advantages when applying for work in the OSCE, but does not guarantee employment.

The OSCE staff member notes that the university that the candidate graduated from also plays an important role in the selection of personnel. "Cambridge, Oxford and MGIMO are a sign of quality. However, in the modern world, the requirements are much wider. The knowledge of any of us can be useful in a certain situation. You need to be in the right place at the right time," says Kristo Polendakov, himself a graduate of MGIMO.

Practice in the OSCE

Practice in the OSCE - invaluable experience

You can take an internship at the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna or at one of the offices in the Czech Republic, Moldova, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan or Ukraine. There is no OSCE office in Russia, the nearest representations are in Minsk and Kyiv.

Practice in the OSCE lasts from two to six months and is not paid. Students of the last courses not older than 30 years old from countries that are members of the organization can apply. To do this, you need to fill out a questionnaire on the OSCE website and send it along with an essay in which you need to justify your desire to do an internship, and (optionally) a CV by e-mail or regular mail three months before the planned start of the internship.

European Union

Plenary Hall of the European Parliament, Brussels

Citizens of countries outside the European Union, the entrance to the EU as employees, in theory, ordered. However, there are no rules without exceptions. "If a candidate from Russia, for example, wants to do an internship under a member of the European Parliament who deals with EU-Russia relations, then an exception can be made for him," says Brigitte Müller-Reck, an employee of the European Parliament's personnel department. ).

Another opportunity to get an internship in the European Parliament is the Robert Schumann Scholarship (Robert-Schuman-Praktikum). It is of two types - for all specialties and for journalists. One of the conditions is that the candidate must be a graduate of a university in one of the EU member states. The practice lasts five months. The nearest deadline for submitting documents is from March 15 to April 15.

Russian Irina Figut participated in the Robert Schumann program in the fall of 2008. Her tasks included communicating with the press and working on a corporate publication. “I did an internship at the European Parliament in Luxembourg. But we also attended sections in Brussels and Strasbourg,” says Irina. She especially liked to watch the parliamentary sessions, and to be an eyewitness of how the voting takes place and political decisions important for the whole world are made.

Context

How to find a place for an internship, how to properly prepare for it, and what should you pay attention to when receiving a certificate of completion? The answers to these and other questions can be found in the Deutsche Welle Help. (30.04.2009)

You can go abroad and become a member of a prestigious organization even without work experience and without money. Right now the United Nations (UN) is looking for volunteers for great projects in Cambodia, Thailand and even Fiji. Tatyana Shcherbakova, the author of the Brain Drain telegram channel, has collected relevant internships and projects for SM for the third time.

Mentioning the UN in a resume drives employers crazy for one or two. This year was an exceptional case: for the first time Russia sponsored almost two dozen vacancies. All of them are available only to candidates with Russian citizenship. Most positions do not require work experience and are designed for young people (from 18 to 29 years old).

Volunteers will be provided with flights, visas, insurance and a one-time payment for moving. There is also a salary, and rather big - from 1280 to 1600 dollars a month. This money is paid out to cover the cost of housing, food and transportation. Those lucky ones who pass the selection will fly to their projects around the beginning of October and stay there for a whole year.

The deadline is just around the corner: the application must be submitted before July 25. Hurry up! If for this you need to pull up English -. If you do not understand how to apply for a volunteer program, follow the link to any of them: there are detailed instructions everywhere.

Fiji: fight hurricanes and innovate

The UN Development Program solves the problems of global and national development - fighting poverty, hunger, gender inequality and so on. Its offices are open in 166 countries. The first office volunteer in Fiji will develop innovations and partnerships with other countries, run social media programs, organize a variety of events, and communicate with the press. The ideal candidate has a university degree in media and communications, international relations or business administration.

The second volunteer has a more technical role of disaster risk reduction. He will get programs not only from Fiji, but also from other Pacific islands. Candidates should be well versed in engineering, information management, data management, or other areas related to the topic. Work experience is not required, but fluent English is indispensable.

Jordan: curbing global warming

Two more vacancies are open in Amman. The first volunteer will fight global warming and climate change in general. In general, work for the benefit of the Paris Agreement (the purpose of this document is to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere). Anyone who knows English and has a diploma in Ecology can apply. In the interview, show that you are interested in the topic. Even if you just moved from car to bike, it already means a lot.

Read also:

The second volunteer will be engaged in projects in the field of energy efficiency, renewable energy, access of the poor and refugees to this very energy. The volunteer will be responsible for the programs of all Arab countries in the field of "green" energy and for a series of information materials on the topic. To get on the project, you need to be over 25 years old, have a college degree in something related to energy, and three years of work experience in a specialty.

Uganda: fight pollution

Again the UN Development Program and again the ecology. A volunteer in Uganda will explore the gas, oil and coal industries. Together with other members of the team, he will have to think about how to ensure the country's most sustainable economic growth. The candidate will need a university degree in natural resource development. Experience in program management and research is preferred but not required.

Myanmar: empower local women

Fast forward to Southeast Asia, to the UN Women's office in Yangon. It needs a volunteer to promote gender equality. Communicate with local government, organize events, spread information about special services (for example, a hotline for victims of domestic violence).

Read also:

A strong interest in the subject is required, fluent English is also required. Ideally, if you have a higher education in the field of social sciences, international relations, human rights.

Zimbabwe: Ensuring green urban growth

Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, needs a volunteer with an environmental background to develop urban resilience and green growth programs. He will have to work closely with the areas of social protection, private entrepreneurship and market economy. Another volunteer will help the locals improve their living and working conditions. This position will take a specialist or master in economics, ecology, social sciences or business administration. Experience for a project in Zimbabwe is needed, but only a year is enough.

Cambodia: ensure social cohesion

A volunteer with a higher education in the field of political science will go to a small southeastern country. It will analyze the state of civil society, seek opportunities for cooperation with new and old partners, bring local initiatives to the level of state programs. Two or three years of work in the field of social development and the age of 25 years is a prerequisite. It is also important to understand human rights, gender issues and events.

Thailand: Building connectivity in the region

The volunteer will have to develop the communications of the Asian country and the neighboring territories of the Pacific Ocean. Coordinate projects, organize events, troubleshoot problems, conduct research. The new employee must understand information and communication technologies. Therefore, he needs a degree in economics, business or ICT, and two more years of work experience in his specialty. The organizers will consider candidates over 25 years of age.

Moldova: Promote the UN Sustainable Development Goals

The only vacancy from our selection is open in Europe - in the office of the United Nations Development Program in Chisinau. The volunteer will work with the 2030 Sustainability Program and involve other volunteers in it. Higher education should be in the field of economics, public administration or social sciences. In addition, four years of relevant experience is also required (ideally in one of the UN structures or in the field of volunteering and promoting sustainable development goals). And, again, the age is over 25 years old.

The Russian-speaking diplomat spoke incognito about her experience of moving to the United States. Photo depositphotos.com

A Russian-speaking diplomat incognito told ForumDaily about her experience of moving to the United States and how the diplomatic statute interferes with renting housing.

Living in the USA has become for me rather a consequence than a cause or even a purpose of life. And if everything started as a temporary phenomenon, now, after about nine years, I remember the saying:

"Nothing is more permanent than temporary."

Since 2007, I have been living in New York, where I arrived on a United Nations (UN) work visa. The United Nations Diplomatic Visa was issued on the basis that I was selected to be an assistant in one of the departments of the Secretariat. I remember receiving an email from New York City from a Human Resources representative on August 29th: “Congratulations on your position…see you back at work October 1st.” I immediately answered in the affirmative and began collecting documentation and medical certificates for obtaining a visa.

From receiving the signed contract to the interview at the Embassy, ​​no more than two weeks passed. The interview was short and went without much delay, since I had all the necessary documents on hand, and the UN itself sent a special letter directly to the Embassy, ​​confirming my status and the duration of the contract - 3 months with the possibility of extension with satisfactory work and the availability of funds from the host me of the department.

With a three-month visa in hand, a return ticket and three suitcases of autumn and winter things, I flew to a country that was very distant and alien to me. Far away, both in distance and culturally. But since it was the headquarters of my dream organization, I knew that I would not miss this chance, and the fear of the unknown would not become an obstacle. After all, you don’t want to regret it for the rest of your life, right? And I can always go home.

Until now, many years later, I am very grateful to local friends - a married couple from Puerto Rico, who met me at the airport and sheltered me for the first time until I found an apartment for myself.

Since my work contract began on October 1, I did not have enough time and knowledge to quickly figure out where and how to look for housing, what it costs, what a social security number is, why you need to open a credit card and have some permanent or temporary address of residence in the United States. At work, new employees were not provided with any assistance in moving to New York. These were supposed to be personal problems that you solve yourself and do not cause headaches to your superiors. All they helped me with on the spot was documentation for opening an account with the UN Credit Union bank, to which my salary was transferred.

The salary, after subtracting the required amount for food, travel, telephone and other minimum line expenses, allowed you to rent either a small apartment outside of Manhattan Island, or a room somewhere in the city, in the area where Columbia University students live (Harlem). With that in mind, I took to the internet and methodically wrote letters in response to apartment listings using the craigslist page. It is noteworthy that even today, with much more advanced housing search resources, this service is still very popular among users, as it collects data on the supply and demand of a wide variety of goods and services in all cities and states of the United States.

The first weeks of attempts to see the apartments were unsuccessful. All brokers, namely they, as a rule, put up apartments for sale or rent, refused and shrugged their hands in helplessness. “Do you only have a contract for 3 months (apartments are usually rented for a year)? No social security number (meaning a foreign tourist with no long-term prospect of staying in the US)? What is your credit history? How "no credit history"!? Without it, we cannot process you, because we do not know about your solvency! What kind of visa are you on here - diplomatic? Does that mean you won't be held accountable? Do you have a local trustee who will vouch for you in case of early departure from the apartment (after three months, based on the logic of the contract) and who will pay your annual rent?

By the way, the status of a “UN employee-diplomat” and a diplomatic visa to the United States not only did not come in handy for me, but only exacerbated the difficult situation with finding housing.

Americans, for various reasons, believe that the UN is a structure of dependents and freeloaders who need to be dissolved, since the organization is inefficient and only spends their money from taxes paid to the state. In addition, in their opinion, the status of a diplomat implies only privileges and immunity, while there are no obligations to the US authorities and law. In the event of any offense, they cannot be called to account, and they will calmly “fly away” home without paying utility bills or rent, leaving the owner of the apartment with nothing. When I, naive, said where I work, a couple of brokers simply interrupted the conversation in mid-sentence. Over time, I no longer mentioned the words “diplomatic visa” unnecessarily.

I remember another funny case of calling brokers in the Brighton Beach area of ​​Brooklyn, where Russian-speaking immigrants live who left the post-Soviet republics or Israel in the 1970-90s. The first words of the broker were in polite English, the conversation began with standard questions about the contract and status in America. Realizing that I was also speaking Russian, the interlocutor switched to Russian, changing his businesslike tone to: “in short, give us $2,000, and we will try to persuade the community at home so that your documents are not so carefully examined.” I did not want to give away my savings for nothing, without a guarantee of a positive response, so I ended the conversation on this “corrupt” note.

After six weeks of non-stop searching for housing (on weekends and late evenings), working days (ten hours at work and three hours on the road from home to office and back), I despaired of finding anything. But I did not want to sit on the neck of my friends, although they morally supported me and never hinted that it was time to move out.

As a result, I settled on the option of living in the suburbs of Manhattan, in a four-room apartment, furnished rooms in which were rented out on a monthly basis. The cost - as I understand it now - was very high ($ 700 per month). I had to share the kitchen and bathroom with three other tenants. Was I delighted with the "Obshchakovsky" living in a small room without windows, where it was cold all the time (without central heating), but only with a portable electric heater? Of course not, but in the absence of alternatives, and for this option, I was grateful to fate.

Already a year and a half later, when the market conditions changed due to the financial crisis of 2008-09, having issued a temporary social security number and a couple of credit cards (and thanks to them my credit history somehow began to appear), I began to look more solvent in in the eyes of brokers and still found a studio in Manhattan. By that time, I already knew how to bargain and bring down the price, and also spoke more perfect English.

My first experience in the country was unforgettable and very rewarding.

I think it was a very good test of survival - in a country where you are an outsider, whose accent language you do not always understand and feel like just an unwanted immigrant.

This country and its harsh conditions harden you, making you stronger and more experienced. I do not know how long my short-term contracts with the UN will be extended, and, accordingly, how long my notorious “diplomatic visa” will be. But I know one thing - after America, I'm no longer afraid to be in any corner of the world.

Last academic year, MSLU created a pilot group of the strongest 5th year students of the Faculty of Translation, who, under the guidance of the head of the English Department I.M. Shokina took part in the preparation program for the UN exams in simultaneous translation. Oleg Lovkov, a graduate of the MSLU Faculty of Translation, spoke about his internship at the United Nations, the role of the Russian language as the official language of the UN, and employment prospects for graduates of our university.

- Oleg, tell us, what are the requirements for candidates who want to get an internship at the UN?

Firstly, knowledge of at least two foreign languages ​​that are official languages ​​of the United Nations. I speak English and French. Secondly, openness and communication skills are important selection criteria.

What department did you train in?

I did an internship in the Verbatim Recording Service. At all meetings, transcripts are kept, they are transferred to the English service and translated into English, and then sent to other languages. My responsibilities included translating wall reports from English into Russian.

- In your service men or women predominated?

The UN is trying to maintain a gender balance in all services, as this organization gives equal rights to both women and men.

- Did you have to acquire additional knowledge and skills that you did not receive at the university?

During the internship, I got the specifics of translating sten reports. I'm not sure what specifically teaches this somewhere specifically. The speeches of the speakers are quite complex both in terminology and in the construction of sentences. Sentences can be very long, but they cannot be broken up: when translating, the same structure must be maintained. Sometimes I struggled for thirty minutes over one sentence, but there is a lot of text, and I need to have time to translate everything. In addition, it is necessary to protect the honor of the university! I felt this responsibility. The first text I translated was literally full of corrections. Then we analyzed it with the head of the Russian section, after which, already taking into account previous mistakes, I translated the rest of the texts much better. But the first pancake is lumpy, I think everyone is like that. It must be taken into account that when translating excerpts from the Charter or the UN Resolution, one cannot change a word: everything is very strict. The rest of the knowledge and skills acquired at our university was enough for me.

- Describe the everyday life of an intern.

The working day lasts eight hours with a break for lunch. The schedule is flexible: you can come at nine o'clock, and at eleven, the main thing is to fulfill the norm. At first, I was advised to pay attention to quality, not quantity. In addition, interns do not have a strict norm, but it is desirable to do as much as possible, work quickly and efficiently, as this is a real chance to prove themselves. Employees have a norm of five texts in two days. By the end of the internship, I reached this standard.

All interns have a curator who notified us by e-mail about activities and events. In the first few weeks, we were shown how different services work. We went to meetings of the General Assembly of the Security Council, visited the simultaneous translation service, the UN library, watched how it works. The library has its own terminological base, which has been compiled for several years. Now everything is being digitized and entered into the UN database. And in the evenings, jazz evenings were arranged: ordinary employees gathered a musical group and invited interns to perform as well.

Of course, there were weekends and free time after work. I visited America for the first time, for me it was a culture shock. There is definitely something to see in New York. The city is very unusual, life in it boils day and night. I think it's my atmosphere.

One of the main goals of the United Nations is the development of friendly relations between countries and peoples...

The UN has a very friendly staff. Whoever I meet, everyone is ready to help and answer questions. In fact, this is a clear example of intercultural communication, which is taught at MSLU. I saw different nations in the UN. There were also indigenous peoples who walked in loincloths. Employees, of course, are advised to follow the dress code. But a strict dress code is followed in the building of the UN Secretariat and in the General Assembly. And where the translation service is located, there are no hard and fast rules.

A translator is a specialist not only in the field of linguistics, but also a connoisseur of different cultures, a person who is well versed in the political and economic spheres. In a word, this is an erudite person ...

Yes, definitely. The specifics of working at the UN implies knowledge of the geopolitical situation in the world, professional orientation in all important topics. If you need to clarify the features of a country, for example, Cuba, then you should go up to the Spanish section and get an answer to your question from the Cubans working there. Any UN staff member can be contacted for assistance. I never felt that I was inferior in rank: I was treated as an equal member of the team.

- How would you characterize the profession of an interpreter? Who is the translator?

A translator is a person who is able to masterfully connect two cultures so that the fact of translation is invisible.

If we talk about Russian, which is the official language of the UN, what does this status of mother tongue mean for our country and for you personally?

The Russian language is in great demand and is on an equal footing with other official UN languages. There is a lot of work in Russian because the meetings are held mainly in English, French and Spanish, and everything must be translated. But this is even good, since sitting back is boring.

- Have you ever felt a specific attitude towards Russia or towards Russians?

No, people don't judge Russia because they're on the news. Everyone has already understood that you need to get to know a person personally and have your own opinion about everything. There was no prejudice.

Yes, being where all world events are unfolding, attending meetings and translating serious texts of the Security Council, of course, you feel your involvement. Working at the UN and seeing with my own eyes what I used to see only on TV is very cool.

- This is a big step for a future career. What range of opportunities opens up after an internship at the UN?

I would like to try my hand at simultaneous translation. Perhaps I will teach at our university. But now I was offered to do another internship at UN television. They have excellent large studios, but there are no Russian specialists yet. I have already completed and sent the form. If everything works out, then this year I will once again go for an internship at the UN.

- What would you wish our students and graduates? How to achieve the same results that you have achieved?

In the UN, first of all, a good knowledge of the native language is valued. You must be fluent in your language, be able to speak beautifully, read books, and, of course, learn foreign languages. Everything that our university gives must be absorbed, because in the end everything will come in handy at the most unexpected moment. During the two months of the internship, I took advantage of many of the knowledge that MSLU gave me.

Interview prepared by Natalia Bukina

For many, working at the UN seems like something unreal - akin to flying into space or fighting spies in the spirit of James Bond films. In his interview with Monday, Evald Aliyev told what the employees of the most famous humanist organization in the world actually do, and most importantly, whether one needs to have superpowers to become part of it.

Evald Aliyev
ex-deputy chief of staff of the UN regional office

How did you get into the UN? From the Ministry?

- I worked as the head of the communications service of the railway in Azerbaijan. This is a rather serious position - the fifth person in the entire Ministry of Railways, and then I was only 25-26 years old. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, economic ties also began to break, as a result of geopolitical processes, the railway was in a kind of blockade, the transportation of goods and passenger traffic to the European part of the country and back actually stopped ... By 1993, only one branch was already working. At that moment, I met an advertisement for a vacancy: the head of the administrative and economic department of the UN representation in the country. I had good English (now I know six languages ​​perfectly), and then I decided to try myself in this uncomplicated position.

- Worried? Suppressed the prestige of the UN?

- Not. For me, it was a step down. Conscious step. Turning into a supply manager, albeit in an international organization... Of course, this embarrassed me, but I quickly got my bearings in the structure and within a year changed my position and the attitude of those around me. Made her a real serious position. From ancillary activities, he immediately switched to a serious "OS" and did it in such a way that not a single project could do without such a full-time employee. Operational support for all UN events in the country was concentrated in my hands, practically the work of all parts of the country office: negotiations, transport, logistics, accreditation, diplomatic correspondence, and so on. A little later, the position grew into the global position of Deputy Chief of Staff.

- It became possible because you are such an active and energetic person, or are such structural changes not uncommon in the UN?

— And the first, and the second, perhaps. This organization makes it possible to be realized at any level, and your initiative is far from the last factor. I have something to compare. The UN really determines very quickly whether you are effective in a particular field or not. (That is, no one doubts that you are a professional, a non-professional simply will not get there!) There are internal systems of tests, reporting on the results of the work done, and a clear hierarchical system of subordination. Together, they all give a complete understanding of the capabilities of each employee. When it becomes clear that you are not as effective in this position as you could be, you are immediately transferred to another job. You yourself have the right to offer this if you feel that you are bored, you are not in demand at 100%, or you are simply not interested in what you are doing. Such an initiative is encouraged.

Is it possible to extrapolate this system to the business sphere?

- In business, in my experience, everything depends very much on the owners - on their desire, energy, goodwill, and often on a combination of different circumstances. And in general, they can be fired for such an initiative: “How, it turns out, my employee does not work at 100% and I still have to come up with another job for him?”

— That is, in the UN, an employee is given maximum freedom?

— The UN is a deeply humane organization. Human rights are its essence. At the same time, in terms of the level of discipline, it can be compared with paramilitary structures. All sorts of inspections and audits are regular and inevitable, because the UN works with huge amounts of money from donor countries. The system is such that it does not leave the project a single chance to remain unfulfilled. At least, I have not seen unsuccessful projects in 15 years of work. They always achieved the declared goal.

- Tell us about your colleagues? Are they closer to the "Men in Black" or the Progressors?

“Believe me, the UN has the same employees as any commercial firm. Although they usually speak several languages, they are erudite, well educated, deeply intelligent. Not supermen. Not extreme. Not the people who save the world. But people are capitalized. I saw representatives of all countries of the world, communicated with them and worked: everyone is distinguished by respect and love for humanity, readiness for self-sacrifice. These are not big words. At the UN you become a man of the world. I also note that over the years of work, a special ethics is certainly developed. Among the employees there are public people who have a diplomatic status and behave accordingly, that is, they profess the code of a diplomat. There are - non-public, engaged in routine, operational activities, which, however, does not make them less intelligent.

- Were you a public figure or not?

- My position was a kind of mix, the rough work was done by my entire department, and I often had to speak publicly, travel a lot around the regions, conduct serious negotiations with local authorities, suppliers of products and ammunition necessary for projects - I then worked in Eastern Europe and CIS. As for the subject matter, it was varied: electrifying virgin but densely populated areas, demining former war zones in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, introducing innovative technologies, environmental programs, fighting poverty through job creation, many educational programs, simple housing reconstruction, homeless people, natural disaster survivors, the fight against AIDS, malaria, birth control programs and much more - great and necessary projects! I was also a participant in all regional conferences on the fight against drug trafficking and still follow how things are going, because this project continues to this day, even after my departure.

Why did you leave the UN?

- For personal reasons: I wanted to spend more time with my family, to see how my children grow up, to give my family a little more warmth. Working at the UN, you experience a lot of stress, both professional and related to your personal life. For example, when you go on long business trips to war zones. Of course, the UN adequately compensates for all the costs of this kind of service, this must, say, include a weekly vacation once every one or two months, so that you can see your family. However, it is not easy to bear. I remember when the Americans entered Iraq for the first time, a hotel was blown up in Baghdad, where the headquarters of the UN development program was located. 13 people were killed, and Henrik Kolstrup, the head of the UN development program in Baghdad, was left with an invalid (a few years earlier he was my direct patron, being the regional director). We spent a week on regional trips and became very close then. By some miracle, I was not among those who lived in the hotel. After that, it was decided to relocate the office to Amman, the capital of Jordan. Every day, employees were taken to work across the border, accompanied by special forces and special equipment ...

And how many upheavals there were when we observed the results of various ethnic cleansing and terrible local country conflicts. Ethnic conflicts are, after all, the worst of the evils in which humanity can become mired.

- After such work, does the view of politics, the world order as a whole, economic crises, and all other social processes on the planet change?

- Undoubtedly. Falsehood and insincerity in relations between the authorities and the people become obvious, the mechanisms of crises become clear, as well as how it would be possible to achieve greater harmony in relations between all parties to conflicts in all spheres of human existence. The UN of that time was in the wake of innovative processes: a Wi-Fi prototype existed in each of the countries, employees traveled with IBM laptops and could go online right on the road. We were among the first in the world to use global software - ERP, which cost billions, then just crazy money, it was a global system that included all the production processes of the most powerful organization around the world. Of course, the world was a little different back then... And we were at the forefront of that world. Naturally, this taught me to see new horizons. Therefore, I believe that every progressive young person should spend at least a month or two in some international company or organization in order to broaden their horizons and gain invaluable experience in interethnic communication.

- Is it possible to get into UN ? It's not the nineties anymore...

— If you are a star in your industry, you may be invited for a one-time consultation. And if you are the owner of some specific profession, you can simply get straight into the “inferno of the project”. But in general, the UN first of all looks for candidates for this or that position from among its own employees, from people who have been working in the same organization for a long time and imbued with its spirit, are familiar with its specifics. Then they invite specialists from UN affiliated organizations and only after that - someone from outside. The easiest and most direct way to become your own is through The United Nations Volunteers (UNV). When I talk about this, people immediately object: “But I won’t get paid for this!” You will be paid. Space salaries will not be offered, but they guarantee a decent level for the country where you are sent. The volunteer movement is based on the fact that you provide your services where it is now risky to work, where not everyone will go. And this is appreciated, at the end of your contract, with a greater degree of probability, you will find yourself in a stronger cage, having received a new offer to move to another organization, under the auspices of the UN and / or to a more serious position. That's how many people from your acquaintances will agree to go to work in Africa or the Middle East? But this way you will be able to navigate the structure of the organization and prove yourself.

- What qualities should a newcomer show?

— Absolute practicality. You need to decide for yourself whether you are ready to be practical and make this your life credo forever? Nothing superfluous, everything, in fact, on time, with minimal expenditure of one's strength and energy, with minimal costs for one's organization.

- Can such practicality be developed or should one be born with it?

- I will say this: it is impossible not to develop it once you are in the UN.