This episode of AIIA VIC’s Dyason House Podcast features Associate Professor Ian Howie who describes his more than 30 years of experience working in the UN.

Pursuing an international career with the UN can be socially challenging for one’s family; they may have to relocate overseas every few years, compromise their career aspirations and face the difficulty of attaining a work visa. It may also be difficult for children required to change schools and reintegrate into a new local society. The benefit is be to relish the opportunity to engage in local cultures and get to know a whole diversity of countries, peoples and cultures to explore and be challenged by. To pursue a career in this industry, one must dare to take risks. It is worth casting the net broadly not just to the UN in New York, but also through specialised agencies funded by or associated with the UN.

Ian Howie is Associate Professor at Nossal Institute of Global Health and Adjunct Professor in International Studies at RMIT University. Ian has spent more than 30 years working in the field of international development, including with the United Nations as a career official and as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representative in China, with responsibilities also for Mongolia and North Korea, and in Viet Nam, Ghana, Rwanda and Papua New Guinea. He also spent seven years at UN Headquarters, New York, following his appointment as Director, Division of Human Resources.

Interviewed by Peter Bateman.