-Amina Mohammed tells Nigerians
Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General and former Minister of
Environment, has urged older Nigerians to stop competing with younger Nigerians
for UN jobs.
NAN reports that Mohammed spoke at a cultural night organised by
Nigerians working at the United Nations Systems in New York.
She said Nigerian
employees in the UN system are getting older, pointing out the need to groom
younger people by allowing them to fill available job openings.
“Whenever there
are opportunities, try and pave the way for the young ones; you are getting old
and we want to see the young ones in the system,” Mohammed said.
“We need to give
the youth the opportunity because if we don’t give them the opportunities, they
can easily fall victims of crimes.”
She said the
older Nigerians in the UN system should think of bringing their expertise home
rather than competing with young Nigerians for jobs in the UN.
“Home really does
need us; there are leaders and we are trying with the professionals that we see
in the United Nations.
“The work we need
to do is not just to the world but also to remember that at the root of all
that, you are only as good as where you come from.
“And it’s really
important that we remember, with what we do here, what we can get back home,
that we can encourage those at home and inspire them.
“It’s not just
what we do for the world. Can’t we take those expertise back home?”
She said Nigeria
has not been taking advantage of sponsoring its young people to gain experience
under the Junior Professional Officers’ (JPO) Programme, which has 37 openings
for Nigerians.
The JPO programme
provides young professionals with hands-on experience in multilateral technical
co-operation, and is one of the best ways to gain entry-level positions within
the UN system.
JPOs are
sponsored by their own government, which fund their placement in one of a range
of UN organisations.
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