Young trainees given window to the world
Since mid-March Ge Xinyi has worked from her New York home because of COVID-19, only recently planning to return to the office occasionally after restrictions were eased.
Ge, 27, from Wuhan, Hubei province, has spent four years at the headquarters of the UN Children’s Fund, where she is responsible for planning, monitoring and evaluating organizational communication and advocacy-related activities.
“We have many short, medium and long-term strategic plans and my job is to make sure the plans are on track.”
It is her third position at the UNICEF office. During the pandemic she has focused on the agency’s COVID-19 global communications plan, including monthly priorities. She provides updates twice a week on work and campaigns related to the disease.
In May she took on the task of working out ways to better implement UNICEF’s programs through publicity and communication during the pandemic.
Ge’s passion for the UN was probably ignited years ago when a Model United Nations event was held at her high school. “I was unfamiliar with the UN, but I met lots of friends and really enjoyed the whole process. I was even presented with an award.”
In the first year of university studies, she traveled alone to the Czech Republic for an internship sponsored by a European Union foundation. She also attended the 2012 UN Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar.
“I found I wanted to do something related to public affairs and to work in the UN system, so I applied to take a master’s in social policy in the United States.”
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, she spent almost two years as an intern and later as a consultant in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs at the UN headquarters.
In 2016, after completing several interviews and examinations, she became an official UNICEF employee.
“Working in the UN system is a particularly good learning process because you meet people from different countries with different backgrounds,” she said.
Ge said her work has also given her a more comprehensive understanding of the world. “Working here allows you to keep an open mind. This is a process of continuously broadening the way you think.”
She would like to do frontline work or relocate to a UNICEF office in Southeast Asia or Africa to work in more on-theground projects, she said.
“The work at (UNICEF) headquarters is very important, but I also want to get involved in the implementation of the policies we generate. I want to do some specific things that can help me better understand the meaning and importance of my job.”
Another UN staffer Cai Yinan chose to return to her hometown of Beijing in 2016 after completing a three-month internship in the Department of Public Information at the UN headquarters.
Cai, 29, now works for an NGO focusing on climate change, but her experience at the UN “more or less” influenced her career choice.
“The internship gave me a better understanding of multinational organizations and their work, allowing me to accept a diverse working environment,” she said, adding that she now has frequent meetings with foreign colleagues and has adapted well to this international working style.
Cai started her UN internship in 2016, after obtaining a master’s degree in communications, culture and technology at Georgetown University. When she began she was mainly responsible for operating social media platforms at the visitors’ center. She and a senior officer helped the center develop and launch an app to guide tourists on virtual visits to all UN agencies.
Cai and her colleagues also helped at meetings held at the UN headquarters, where they handled work such as arranging receptions.
Some of these meetings left a profound impression on Cai, including a briefing in 2016 by a staff member from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
The briefing, on the situation facing refugees in the Middle East, included a vast amount of firsthand material such as photos, videos and interviews, which left Cai feeling “shocked and touched”.
“If you are not part of the UN system you may feel that these things are very distant from you or are none of your business. However, if you are on the inside, you have more empathy and a deeper understanding of what’s going on around the world.”
At the end of last year, of the 114,000 working for the UN around the world, more than 1,300 were Chinese, the organization said.
Cai said: “Of course it’s good to see more Chinese working in the UN system. As China is playing an increasingly important role in the global community, it’s no surprise that more young people from the country want to take part in international affairs.”
Ge of UNICEF said that in addition to enthusiasm, it is important to work out “what you want to do, which part of the work you are most interested in and where you want to start”.