Below are some valuable experiences of New Zealanders who were either working for the United Nations, or in association with the work of the United Nations.
“I visited UN headquarters in November 2007 in my capacity as an academic, spending a week visiting the UN Police Division at UNDPKO to help inform my new book on the rise of international policing. There I was surprised by two things. The first was the massive workload of the 33 staff in the Division who were not only expected to help recruit, oversee and manage some 13,000 UNPOL officers, but were also tasked with developing longer term strategies on issues as diverse as gender composition and the use of Formed Police Units (FPUs) in country. The second was the attitude of these people that I met. By and large these were people who were committed to trying to make a difference in the world, and who were working at great rates to try to improve the UN’s policing contribution to peacekeeping and other missions. They spoke stirringly of their hopes for increasing international peace and security by improving the UN’s capacity and capability to cope with the demands of peace missions, through various means such as the standardisation of police training, or the inculcation of human rights values within missions. I left there impressed with their commitment and awed at the impressive tasks that they face on a daily basis”.
Dr Beth Greener, Lecturer in International Relations, Massey University.
“My story is about human rights, international development, and other fun stuff. For budding corporate lawyers or policy analysts, things can be quite simple – the path to a state sector internship or private clerkship is relatively straightforward. But if you’re looking to use your law degree to save the world, it’s a bit more difficult.
Last year, after getting itchy feet on exchange in Singapore, I decided to take the plunge and try my luck finding development work in Asia. It was a daunting task to being with. While thousands of agencies operate programmes in Asia, internships and volunteer positions are actually quite hard to come by, particularly if you’re not keen to pay exorbitant amounts for someone to organise it for you.
In February I took a trip to Aceh, the westernmost province of Indonesia. I have friends from Aceh in Wellington, so it was the first place on my visiting list. A professor of mine put me in touch with a kiwi couple working with Oxfam there. Through them I met the kids working at the UN Office of the Recovery Coordinator for Aceh and Nias (UNORC – www.unorc.or.id), then I met the boss, then I sent in my CV, and in August I went back to begin an internship. These sorts of things are always a mixture of right place, right time, a little proactivity, a lot of persistence, and some luck.
So it came together for me, and it couldn’t have happened in a more amazing place. Aceh is the province which was worst hit by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. 160,000 people lost their lives in Aceh that day. The following year, a peace agreement between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Government of Indonesia ended 30 years of civil war. The combination of post-disaster and post-conflict recovery is a complex one. The massive amount of aid money sent to Aceh after the tsunami has put the province at the forefront of development. UNORC is itself a bit of an experiment in coordinating international aid, and acting as an interlocutor between the UN system and local government and NGOs.
I was working primarily under the post-conflict advisor to the UNs Recovery Coordinator, a tricky position as the UN doesn’t have a clear post-conflict mandate in Aceh. Our task was to ensure that development in Aceh is conflict sensitive and works to entrench peace in the province, rather than exacerbate old divides – an often politically touchy issue. Aceh’s legendary rebel leader, Hasan di Tiro, returned while I was there in November after 30 years of exile in Sweden. Thousands of former combatants flooded into Banda Aceh, the capital city, to see the man who spearheaded their struggle for independence – I was totally in awe, the emotion and devotion was pretty incredible. It is a really critical time in Aceh at the moment, initial post-tsunami reconstruction is winding down and attention is turning to this year’s elections and the part that Partai Aceh (GAM’s political manifestation) will play. So Tiro’s visit, and his support for the peace agreement, was incredibly significant.
In terms of studying law, it was a great insight into how a legal system develops after the dual tragedies of natural disaster and war; How do you rebuild land tenure systems when all registries and documentation were destroyed and village elders killed? How do you bring together people who have been at each others throats for decades to implement a new governance arrangement which redistributes a lot of wealth back to Aceh? How do you reconcile the new implementation of Shari’a law with international standards of human rights? How do you establish a truth and reconciliation commission without sparking serious political backlash? It’s interesting.
So that’s a little about the UN in Aceh, but you don’t really need to go that far a field to get a taste for development work. Wellington is a hub of human rights and development work, and while their internships are a little more ad hoc, they’re definitely out there. As a starter, take a look at www.oxfam.co.nz, www.amnesty.org.nz, www.peacefoundation.org.nz, www.devzone.org, and www.unyanz.co.nz. If you’re in town, pop up to Level 2 of the James Smith Building on the corner of Manners and Cuba – that’s where most NGOs in Wellington hang out. It’s a bit daunting, but be tenacious, it’s do-able and guaranteed to provide food for thought as you try to figure out how you might be able to change the world”.
Kate Yesberg – Intern.
"I interned at the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Office from January - April 2008. I really enjoyed working for UN-NGLS and learnt a lot more about the UN and its interaction with civil society. My work involved supported the staff with research, database work, attending meetings, writing notes, and contributing to the publication of materials.
During my time there I attended a lot of side events including the Commission on Social Development and Commission of the Status of Women which are both functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC). My internship was a fantastic experience and I would encourage all young people interested in the UN to do the internship. I enjoyed meeting the many interns and made friendships which will last into the future."
James Kennelly – Intern.