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Busy Days Behind the Scenes at the UN
Sebastian Borchmeyer (MIA ’12) came to SIPA to study the United Nations. In March, he got an inside look.
Borchmeyer was one of 42 students who recently spent a day at the United Nations through SIPA's UN Studies Program. From the Security Council to UNICEF, students shadowed officials, observed meetings, and generally got a feel for life in the UN.
Borchmeyer was placed in the Middle East Division of the Department of Political Affairs, where he saw officials scrambling to respond to multiple crises in region. In one meeting, he listened as a team of UN investigators described the civil war in Libya.
“It was a meeting with people who were on the ground, who had the chance to assess the situation there,” he said. “This was very interesting but very confidential.”
Annika Allman (MIA '11) spent a day at UNICEF, the UN agency for children. She was surprised by the staff's willingness to include her in meetings and show her around. Junior staffers gave her advice on how to apply for a job.
“They were just very, very welcoming, more than they had to be,” Allman says.
This was the first time the UN Studies Program has organized a “Day at the UN,” but it is just one of many ways that students connect with the United Nations. The UN Studies Program regularly organizes lunchtime conversations with UN ambassadors and interview sessions with SIPA alumni who work for the UN. Many SIPA students also complete internships and workshop projects for UN agencies.
Students shared impressions of their day at the UN in a panel discussion on April 6. Several spoke of the evident passion and dedication of the UN staff. Others noted the fast-paced work environment, with officials managing multiple crises and many people traveling internationally.
Petra Aldrich (MIA ’12) spent a day at UNICEF and observed that personal relationships seemed crucial to making things happen within the UN bureaucracy. Staffers often know each other from assignments years ago in faraway locales.
One of the goals of the “Day at the UN” was for students to see the “human face” of the organization, according to Elisabeth Lindenmayer, director of SIPA's UN Studies Program. UN staffers often see their work as a calling, rather than a job, she said. People from throughout the world join the UN and become something of an international family.
Lindenmayer, a former UN Assistant Secretary-General, invited several UN officials to respond to the students' observations during the April 6 discussion. She encouraged students to keep in touch with the contacts they made at the UN and noted how SIPA and the UN have a lot to offer each other.
“The philosophy of my program is really to bring synergy between the UN and SIPA,” she says.
Tim Shenk, Updated April 8, 2011