I have decided to work for an ngo but im not sure what exactly they are looking for.?

Question

i want to kno what courses i need to follow and what sort of activities that i need to be involved in. The UN is my numero uno aim. i just dont kno how to get there. ??

Answer 1

The UN -- or an NGO -- needs the same thing as a business: accountants, marketing directors, IT professionals, business strategists, farming experts, legal advisors, medical staff, and on and on. Pick an undergrad degree -- and then a grad degree -- that interests YOU most. You are going to be "married" to this subject matter for probably the rest of your life, so it's important you choose something you really enjoy.

For the UN, you need to be able to work in at least one other language. The official UN working languages are English, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish and French. If you look at job boards, you will see that Arabic, Russian and French speakers are in particular (Arabic for the Middle East, Russian for former Soviet block countries, and French for Africa, parts of Asia and elsewhere). But other languages are of great value as well: Farsi/Dari/Tajik, which is spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Portuguese, which is spoken in East Timor, some African countries and other former Portuguese colonies. You need to be able to WORK in another language, not just take a couple of years in college. You need to have certification of your skills in these secondary and third languages.

You also need to have experience working with migrants, people with HIV/AIDS, religious-conservative communities (particularly when introducing a controversial idea), people with disabilities, or other under-served groups. The UN wants people who have experience working in high-poverty areas -- particularly people who have worked in initiatives that help low-literacy populations get the skills they need to have jobs.

To get an idea of the kinds of jobs the UN, NGOs and others are looking for, visit these web sites that post jobs for such:

http://www.developmentex.com

http://www.reliefweb.int/vacancies/

This resource is primarily for people who want to volunteer in long-term placement programs overseas (the ones that don't charge volunteers), but I think the advice is also applicable for positioning yourself for paid international work:

http://www.coyotecommunications.com/volu...

Think about which UN agency interests you the most: UNICEF? UNDP? UNIFEM? UNESCO? WHO? WFP? ITU? UNHCR? Visit the web site for whichever is of most interest to you and sign up for the email newsletter; read it regularly, to become well-versed in the issues of most importance to that agency, and how they address such.

Finally, see if there is a UN Association anywhere near you; join it and attend meetings regularly. This will help you learn about the different aspects of the UN.