The former UK/UNA Volunteer programme
A breeding ground for international careers in the UN[1]
Michael Askwith[2]
- Background
During the 1960s and 1970s, International Service (IS) – at that time part of the United Nations Association-UK – was one of the four volunteer sendingagencies which formed part of the British Volunteer Programme (BVP), the others being Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), the Catholic Institute of International Relations (CIIR) and International Voluntary Service (IVS) (now IVS GB).
UNA IS, whose headquarters were then located in Londonon the seventh and eighthfloors of 93 Albert Embankment, enjoyed an unrivalled view overlooking the Thames. From here, it recruited volunteers to work with UN agencies, principally UNDP, UNICEF and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, as well as for non-UN related assignments. Under the leadership of the late David Chance and programme officer Bill Stephens, over fifty graduate volunteers were posted to UN-assisted projects and field offices between 1960 and 1975 in a wide variety of countries. These werefunded by the British Government through the Overseas Development Administration (ODA), the forerunner of the Department for International Development (DFID). The duration of these assignments was normally two years, but in some cases, volunteers carried out two tours.
Volunteers normally fell into two categories, with some serving in a technical capacity (teachers – of whom about 25 per year in francophone Africa, agriculturalists, fisheries specialists, etc.) and others, normally about six per year, serving as junior professional officers (JPOs) in country offices, particularly of UNDP and UNICEF. They were responsible for a wide variety of tasks relating to the management of the agencies’ technical cooperation programme. These provided invaluable experience, working with the UN in a junior capacity, which enabled them to cut their teeth learning what aid management was all about.
- Transition to UN careers
Continuation with the UN was by no means guaranteed on completion of volunteer assignments. But clearly this volunteer experience constituted a valuable training ground and provided evidence of potential suitability for longer-term career assignments. No doubt it inspired many to continue with the UN. A review of these volunteer assignments showed that nearly half (32 or 55 per cent) succeeded in joining UN agencies on initial ‘fixed-term’ contracts, which after five years, could then be converted to a permanent contract, subject to satisfactory performance.
Thereafter, each former volunteer pursued his or her own career path.For those who joined UNDP they were assigned either to country offices as Programme Officers and then Assistant Resident Representatives, or to Headquarters in a variety of support functions, such as Area Officers in regional bureaux. Those who joined UNICEF followed comparable career paths, carrying out UNICEF-specific programming and technical functions, and ending up often as UNICEF Representatives. Those who joined technical agencies such as FAO, were able to advance in due course to full expert roles.
In terms of functions, UNDP staff normally progressed up a career ladder which involved both country as well as Headquarters functions. At a country level, most former volunteersbecame Deputy Resident Representative, and then Resident Representative, a post which from the late 1970s was combined with that of UN Resident Coordinator. For UNICEF, the career progression was similar. For the other agencies, former volunteers carried out different types of programming functions, although some specialised in administrative, personnel, and salaries/compensationwork.
My own career conformed closely to this pattern. I started off as a UK/UNA volunteerwith UNDP in Algeria in 1968 and was fortunate to be given a second volunteer assignment in Chadbetween 1970 and 1972. I was lucky enough to serve under two outstanding and very personable Resident Representatives, Stig Andersen from Denmarkand Waclaw Micuta from Poland, who mentored and inspired me to follow a UN career. I was given a wide variety of responsibilities involving support to projects and UN experts, project monitoring, field visits, drafting of correspondence and a wide variety of reports, and drafting the first UNDP country programme for Chad.
This essential practical experience in UN aid management helped me to gain subsequent country assignments with UNDP in Haiti, and as Deputy Resident Representative (DRR) postings in Guyana, the People’s Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Mauritania, and Saudi Arabia, as well as UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative posts in Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and Equatorial Guineaas well as Chief, UNDP Liaison Office and Representative of the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA) in Eritreaas part of preparations for a full UN presence after independence from Ethiopia. I also had three Headquarters assignments in the Regional Bureau for Latin America, the Bureau for Policy, Programmes and Evaluation, and the Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS. Since 2000, I have carried out about forty consultancies for the UN, UNDP, UNESCO, UNVand UNDG in areas relating to monitoring, evaluation and strategic planning, particularly with regard to the formulation and monitoring of UN Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs).
- Who did what, and where?
Examples of the types of functions which my fellow former volunteers filled during their UN careers provide evidence of a rich array of experience and achievement.
With the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN
Alan Doss was the most notable ‘high flyer’. After an initial Junior Professional Officer (JPO) posting in Kenya, he later served in Niger, UNDP Headquarters, and Vietnam where he helped to develop the first UNDP cooperation programme, before moving to China as DRR to assist in opening the new UNDP office there. He served as RC/RR four times in Benin, Zaire (later the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Thailand and Sierre Leone. In Thailand, he concurrently served as Director of the United Nations Border Relief Operation (UNBRO), in charge of United Nations assistance to hundreds of thousands of displaced Cambodians on the Thai-Cambodia border, as well as the UN representative to the Mekong River Committee.
These country assignments were followed by two Headquarters assignments, as Director of the UNDP European Office in Geneva and then of the new UN Development Group(UNDG) in New York. In the latter he managed the design and implementation of reforms to improve the performance of UN operational activities and coordinated the UNDG’s work on the follow-up to the UN global conferences of the nineties, leading to the pioneer publicationA Better World for All prepared by the UN, World Bank, IMF and the OECD (2000).
He was then appointed by the UN Secretary-General to carry out four particularly challenging assignments: in Sierra Leone,as Deputy Special Representative to the Secretary-General (DSRSG) responsible for the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) as well as UNDP Resident Co-ordinator and UN Humanitarian Coordinator; in Cote d’Ivoire,as Principal Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (PDSRSG), responsible for the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission (ONUCI); in Liberia as Special Representative of the S-G (SRSG), Head of the UN peace keeping mission (UNMIL), with the rank of Under Secretary-General (USG), and finally inthe Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDC) as Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) and Head of the UN peacekeeping (MONUC). He was awarded the CMG in the 2011 New Years Honours, for services to the United Nations.
Warren Sach reached the level of Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) by the end of his career, having started as a JPO with UNDP in Kenya. After staying on in Nairobiwith UNEP, he transferred to UN Headquarters in New York where he remained for the rest of his UN career. This included positions of Chief of the Data Analysis and Systems Control Unit of the UN Budget Division, followed by Chief, Salaries and Allowance Division of the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), Deputy Director and then Director, Programme Planning and Budget Division and finally ASG, Controller.
Of the other former volunteers, most combined substantial periods at country level with headquarters assignments, as follows:
Tim Painter, was one of the earliest volunteer JPOs, starting in Bolivia in 1962, then continuing as a full UNDP staff member in Paraguayand Headquarters in New York, returning to Bolivia as DRR in 1969. He subsequently served as RC/RR in five countries for a total of 18 years: Nicaragua (where at 34 years old, he was one of the youngest, to be appointed), El Salvador, Bolivia, Ethiopia (also SRSG for Emergency Operations), and Argentina. Between El Salvador and Ethiopia he served as Deputy Director of the UNDP office in Geneva, responsible for programmes in Eastern Europe. Before retiring in 1997, he was Adviser to the Regional Bureaux for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa, carrying out missions to Burundi, RD Congo (Kinshasa), Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, El Salvador. After retirement,he carried out consultancies with UNDP in Honduras and Paraguay.
David Whaleystarted in Gabon and continued as Programme Officer in Togo, and then DRR in Haute Volta (Burkina Faso) and Madagascar. He served as RC/RR for a total ofabout 17 years in four countries (Benin, Algeria, Kenya and South Africa, where he opened the new UN office in Pretoria in 1993). He carried out two senior New Yorkassignments as Director for Operational Activities in the UN Office of the Director General for Development and International Economic Affairs (DIEC) and later as Deputy Director and Assistant Administrator of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States (RBAS). On retirement, he has focused on the promotion of human rights and peace-building, particularly in relation to Sri Lanka.
Frederick Lyons started as a JPO in Bolivia, followed by assignments as Programme Officer in Laos, Recruitment Officer in Headquarters, and DRR in Cubaand Burkina Faso. He then served as RC/RR/Country Director in seven countries (Benin, Mexico, Kenya, Russian Federation, Iran, Afghanistan, and acting RC inSri Lanka) for a total of about 20 years. In Headquarters he also served as an Adviser in the Office of the Administrator, and Acting Deputy Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa (RBA). In retirement he has carried out UN consultancy missions as well as serving as chair of trustees of the British & Irish Agencies Afghanistan Group (BAAG).
David Lockwood started in the UNDP Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) in Apia, Western Samoa. He then continued with UNDP in Fiji, Samoa (again with WPRO), Nepaland Pakistan, and then as DRR in Papua New Guinea, BhutanandChina. This was followed by two RC/RR postings in AfghanistanandBangladesh. He completed his career with eight years as Deputy Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. He wrote his memoirs A Life Well Travelled in 2011, before sadly dying from cancer in 2012.
Matthew Kahane, a polyglot with French, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Polish to his credit, started as a JPO in Tunisia before assignment to Iran as Programme Officer, and Vietnam and Sri Lanka as DRR. He then served as RC/RR a total of 18 years in five countries (Western Samoa, Belarus, Poland, Tajikistanand Nepal). He was one of the few UK nationals to serve in Eastern Europe and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union, opening the UN office in Belarus. In retirement he has carried out consultancy missions for UNFPA, UNDP and FAO.
Robert England started as a JPO in Uganda, followed by Programme Officer/Assistant Resident Representative postings in ZambiaandThailand. After serving as Director of the Budget in Headquarters, he then spent a total of fifteen years as RC/RR in Sri Lanka, PakistanandThailand. In retirement, he has carried out many UN consultancies relating to governance and institutional change, effective capacity development and development co-operation, and management of the UN system.
Terry Jonesstartedwith UNDP in Greece. This was followed by assignments in Papua New Guinea, and Rome (on secondment to FAO) then VietnamandBangladesh as DRR, and in three countries as RC/RR (Bhutan, MalawiandPhilippines) for about 14 years. He completed his career as Director of the Capacity Development Group of the UNDP Bureau of Development Policy (BDP). In retirement, he has carried out many UN-related consultancies.
Peter Metcalfstarted in Argentina, and was then reassigned to Indonesia and Thailand. This was followed by two DRR assignments in Sierra Leone and Kenya and four RC/RR appointments in Swaziland, Burkina Faso, Madagascar and Algeria. Most of his career was field-based with the exception of a brief assignment with the UNDP Evaluation Office. In retirement, he has carried out a number of UN consultancies.
Paul Matthewsstarted his UNDP career as a JPO in India. After serving as a consultant in evaluation in Uganda and New York he returned to Indiaas Programme Officer and ARR. He then served in Cameroonas DRR before being seconded to UNIDO in Vienna. He was then assigned to New York as Chief, Policy Division, Bureau for Programme, Policy and Evaluation (BPPE), before reassignment as UNRC/RR in Bhutan. On completion of this posting, he had further Headquarters assignments as Deputy Director, and then Director of the Policy Division (BPPE), and Deputy Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. He concluded his career with UNDP as UN RC/RR in Cambodia.
Paul Witham started with UNDP in Togo, and then transferred to UNFPA with which he served in both Headquarters and in Nepal, as UNFPA Coordinator. While in New York he was also Chairman of the UNDP/UNFPA Staff Council and Vice-President of the Federation of International Civil Service Associations (FICSA). He then returned to UNDP and served as DRR in Bangladesh before two assignments in New York in the Office of the Administrator. He completed his career with three assignments as RC/RR in Papua New Guinea, Sri LankaandFiji, a total of about 12 years.
Tony Patten served as a JPOin the People’s Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), and continued with UNDP in Tanzania, andThailand. He then had two DRR assignments (Cyprus, Indonesia) before an RR assignment in Samoa. He had three Headquarters postings, including as Division Chief in the Regional Bureau for Asia and ArabStates. He sadly succumbed to an untimely death from cancer in 2009.
Michael Smithstarted in Haiti before transfer to the Regional Bureau for Latin America in New York. He was subsequently seconded to the Technical Assistance Department of the World Bank in WashingtonDC. On return to UNDP, he was transferred toThailand as Assistant Resident Representative (ARR), and then to IndiaandNepal as DRR. Two headquarters assignments then followed as Division Chief with UNVin Geneva andwith the UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States in New York.
Christopher Ronaldwas a JPOin Botswana,before assignment to New York as Area Officer in the Regional Bureau for Africa. He then served as ARR in Madagascar and ARR/DRR in Afghanistan. Returning to New York, he served as Programme Officer and Deputy Division Chief in the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, before being seconded to the UN Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) in Vienna as Chief of the Asia Section and later as Regional Director for South Asia in New Delhi. He then returned to UNDP New York as Deputy Director of the Operations Support Group (OSG) and later as Acting Director of the Capacity Development Group. He has carried out UN consultancies in his retirement.
Michael Davies started with UNDP in Sudan, and then transferred to FAO Rome, focusing on administrative functions. He served in Sudan (Darfur), Rome, Kenyaand Rome again, before being seconded by FAO to the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) in New York to work on UN system-wide salaries and compensation issues. He was then transferred to WashingtonDC to work on compensation issues in the World Bank and later the Inter-American Development Bank. In retirement, he has carried out UN and other consultancies, and most recently in a major evaluation of the FAO. He has also served as Chairman of the British Association of Former UN Civil Servants (BAFUNCS).
Bryan Lockestarted in Zaire, and had further country assignments in Zambia, Indonesia and Nigeria before transfer to UNDP headquarters in New Yorkin the Special Unit for Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC). He later served as DRR in Trinidad and Tobago andSomalia. He then served on secondment in Geneva with the UN Disaster Relief Organisation (UNDRO) and with WHO as Deputy Executive Secretary of the Water and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSCC).
With UNICEF
Stephen Woodhouse, started in Indonesia, and continued with UNICEF assignments in Indonesia, Burma, Pakistan, ZimbabweandJordan. He was then transferred to Headquarters in New York as Chief, Training and Staff Development, and concurrently Chair, UN system coordinating committee for Training (CCAQ – Training). He had three postings as UNICEF Representative in Vietnam, IndonesiaandMalaysia before becoming UNICEF Regional Director for Europe in Geneva. In retirement, he has carried out many UN consultancies.
Steve Jarrett served with UNICEF in Paraguay before postings in Bolivia and the Central America regional office in Guatemala, and later in China. He also held senior positions in UNICEF headquarters in New York, and Copenhagen, responsible for health systems’ strengthening, child survival and development, health products’ supplies and combatting malnutrition.
Tad Palac started with UNICEF in Indonesia before assignments in Paraguay, Mozambiqueand Bangladesh. In addition to serving as UNICEF Representative in Dominican Republic he had headquarters postings in New York, including as Head, Latin America and the Caribbean Inter-Agency Coordination Unit.
Ian Hopwood started with UNICEF in Cameroon, eventually becoming UNICEF Representative in Senegal.
With the World Food Programme (WFP)
Paul Buffard started with UNICEF in Bolivia and later served in Bangladesh. He then transferred to WFP where he served in Peru, BoliviaandPakistan before taking on Deputy Representative roles in Georgiaand Egypt. He then served as Country Director in Angola.
John Murray started with FAO and served in both SudanandYemen. He then transferred to WFP where he had both field and headquarters postings. In field assignments, he served as Director of Operations/Head of Mission in six countries (China, Somalia, Georgia (also as Regional Coordinator for the Caucasus, including Armenia and Azerbaijan), Turkey, Albania (with responsibility for Kosovo), Syria(with responsibility for Jordan). At headquarters inRome, he had four assignments, including as Chief of the Asia and Pacific Bureau Operations Department.