Today’s meeting focused on updating the audience on the various initiatives undertaken since the first Outreach Roundtable on March 31, 2015. The speakers mentioned that there has been success in recruiting talent, specifically women, into UN peacekeeping and political missions. The current civilian staff is made up of 167 nationalities with the average age of 46 years and the average time in service at 4.6 years. 70% of the staff is men and 90% of the staff is located in non-family duty stations. The speakers stressed that there is still a need to recruit more senior women into “non-traditional” field careers such as aviation, logistics, and engineering.

One of the initiatives launched has been the Careers E-library, which is a part of the broader communication campaign “What Are You Doing For Peace?” The E-library contains a series of leaflets designed to showcase the wide range of career options within the UN. The UN also has created a talent pipeline of women for senior positions in peacekeeping and special political missions. Women who have at least 15 years of relevant professional experience, a Master’s degree or higher, fluency in English and/or French as well as Arabic and expertise in conflict management, mediation, political analysis, public/strategic communication, and rule of law and security institutions are encouraged to apply.

The targeted and regionalized outreach material was developed to attract the right candidates and was well received. In order to move towards a more collaborative hiring process, the speakers encouraged the attendees to reach out to senior women who may be right for the positions available.

Meeting: Round table on “Dialogue between the Field Personnel Division (FPD) and Member States regarding opportunities for civilians in peace operations, with particular emphasis on suitably qualified and experienced female candidates” (organized by the Field Personnel Division (FPD), Department of Field Support (DFS))

Speakers: Dr. Chhaya Kapilashrami, Director, Field Personnel Division, Department of Field Support; Ms. Margarete Sobrai, Chief Outreach and Workforce Planning Section, Field Personnel Division, Department of Field Support; Ms. Cristina Carrion, Minister and Deputy Representative, Permanent Mission of Uruguay to the United Nations; Mr. Rafael Barbieri, Training Officer, Integrated Training Services Division of Policy, Evaluation and Training, Department of Peacekeeping Operations and Department of Field Support; Ms. Andreina Botto, Chief Outreach Unit, Field Personnel Division, Department of Field Support

Written By: WIT Representative Tania Makker

Edited By: WIT Representative Alex Margolick

Photo Credit: NATO