LocationsJPO Story - Brian Migowe
May 21, 2024
Brian (second from the right) attending a collaborative learning workshop on the global rule of law, security and human rights in Istanbul, Türkiye, May 2023.
What is your educational background?
My background is in law with a specialization in human rights law
What made you apply to the JPO programme/what is your motivation to work with your UN agency?
I always knew I would like to pursue a career in a multilateral international organization, where diverse backgrounds and expertise were required and celebrated. I first joined the UN as a UN Volunteer in Kenya supporting a human rights technical assistance programme. Eager to upskill in a UN setting and in a multilateral system largely influenced by my UNV experience, I applied for a JPO role that aligned with my skills, and with UNDP - an entity I already had experience in and where I was keen to continue my professional growth in.
What are the main activities/tasks you are working on? What is a day at the office/in the field like?
I have worked on an array of tasks since starting my JPO role deployed to Khartoum, Sudan and since re-assigning to New York, USA in my third year and taking up a new set of continued responsibilities, a rewarding transition blending field-based experience and policy-oriented work. I am currently coordinating the mid-term review process of UNDP’s Strategic Plan (2022-2025), a corporate phasing role in the organization which involves coordinating the organization’s wide performance analysis mid-point the implementation if the Strategic Plan. The midterm review takes stock of progress, investments in modernizing operations and oversight, and challenges. It also suggests how UNDP can build on achievements, deliver even more effectively in the next two years and beyond, and continue to learn and improve performance.
My primary role is to ensure efficient, coordinated, timely and coherent planning and implementation of necessary steps to producing the mid-term review report of the Administrator.
Brian Migowe, Programme Analyst at UNDP Crisis Bureau
In your day-to-day work, what SDG(s) are you helping to implement?
Not one but all the 17 SDGs. Coordinating the corporate analysis of UNDP’s Strategic Plan is supporting the organization to expand people’s choices for a fairer, sustainable future envisioned in the 2030 Agenda across all the six signature solutions on poverty and inequality, governance, resilience, environment, energy, and gender equality as these are where country needs are greatest and are interlinked to all the 17 SDGs.
What has been the most rewarding experience to date for you at your duty station? (work and/or non-work related)
I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to work in a team as diverse and multicultural as mine – colleagues from all corners of the world, with different professional backgrounds, unique experiences, yet steered towards a common purpose with the richness of the diversity.
What piece of advice would you give to those who are considering applying to the JPO Programme?
This may seem distant for anyone writing an application – it was for me 4 years ago but has stood a test of relevance for me to date. Notwithstanding your entry duty station, be it in a country office, with any of the regional bureaus or at the headquarters, use the unique funded opportunity in the programme by upskilling yourself with a different team and in a different duty station mid-point your assignment. Simply put - one should seek field level experience as well as headquarters experience and vice versa. This blend of experience will set you apart.
Do you feel that you are part of a community of purpose?
In my team and with the teams I have interacted with and continue to do so, I am certainly part of a group of people that consider their job as serving a greater purpose.
What is the biggest motivator for you when it comes to your work?
Being part of a larger cause than my job, and it’s driven by a self-awakening that my contribution as part of the UN staff contributes to the noble cause of the organization. It takes inspiration, commitment and a strong sense of self and team belief in a purposely driven approach as we find ourselves in the UN. It must also be self-rewarding, which I can say of my term as a JPO.
I would like to define my JPO experience as a period of experiential upskillingBrian Migowe
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