3th Edition - Internal Voices

Bridging the Atlantic through debate 3
Lomborg, climate contrarian or green hero? 5
Agency Special: UNHCR 10
Drawing: Doriane Poulet
Disclaimer: This publication is created
by interns from UN agencies in Brussels. The views and opinions presented
in this publication are those of the
authors, and do not necessarily reflect
those of the United Nations.
« Opinions
and interests of a total of 20
interns from 11 different countries
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008
»
PAGE 2
If you have any suggestions, comments or would like to contribute to the magazine please contact us at [email protected].
Editorial
« Even Condi started out as an intern ». Those
were the words of Terry Ann Paolo when we
interviewed her after the intern conference at
the US Mission to the EU.
In many ways an intern is in a rather special
phase of life. Most of us have finished our
studies, but we are not yet at a stage where we
can lean back and see where life takes us. An
internship is supposed to help us define what
field of work we are interested in, and as
young graduates today we are more or less
obliged to start off by doing an internship- at
least if the goal is to find a job in an international environment. This short term professional
experience thus turns into some sort of ritual
you have to go through before entering the
labour market, armed only with your CV.
Anthropologists call such an experience a rite
of passage: the period of time when you are
situated betwixt and between the two definitions- student and employee. British anthropologist Mary Douglas has even argued that such
a social transition is perceived of as dangerous, since the social status is temporarily
undefined and vague. Fortunately, an internship is also an intense learning experience
where you get to know yourself and your abilities. Should a slight anxiety pass through
your mind when considering future work prospects, it can perhaps be of some help to know
that you are in good company: even US Secretaries of State must have broken out in a cold
sweat over a job application at some point.
How it all started...
Last August a couple of UNRIC
interns came up with the idea of
creating an intern magazine. Two
issues later we expanded on the
idea by contacting interns outside
of UNRIC. The magazine you are
reading now is the result of the
collaboration between interns from
8 different UN agencies. No one
has really asked us to create this
magazine, and most of the work
was undertaken in the spare time of
each contributor, as well as during
long hours at the office. Having
articles pour into my inbox, as well
as seeing the tireless effort of the
lay-out team thus became all the
more impressive, not to say touching. I would like to extend my
thanks to all the interns who contributed with their skills and gave
their time to finalize this magazine.
I, for one, will definitely look back
at this experience with great joy.
Thank you! We hope that this edition will be the first in a long series
of Internal Voices publications.
Editorial
2
Bridging the Atlantic
3
Food crisis in the EU
4
Climate and media
5
EU migration Policy
6
Birth registration
7
Regulars:
UN Brussels campaigns
8
Agency Special: UNHCR 9-10
Portrait: Thomas Stelzer
11
Country Special: Nigeria
12
Leisure:
Interns on internships
13
Working in Brussels
14
Brussels and Starbucks
15
Artist Special: Klaas Ornelis
16
Contributors:
This magazine features the opinions and interests of a total of 20 interns from 11 different
countries, ranging from Colombia to Sweden.
In terms of an international collaboration (if I
dare use these words), our project doesn’t
represent anything new. Undertaking an internship is nothing out of the ordinary either,
at least not in Brussels where there seem to be
thousands of us – anyway, that’s the impression you get if you go out on Place Lux any
day of the week. But what is new here is perhaps the combination of the two factors, adding up to a magazine that we hope could
work as a forum for different thoughts and
interests, reflecting to some extent our cultural
baggage. Read this magazine in your free
time, while procrastinating during work hours,
read to learn something, read to pass time,
read to know what’s going on in Brussels, read
to know what’s going on in Nigeria, or get the
latest thoughts on soaring food prices. Or
simply read. I’ll let you get on
with it. Enjoy!
Mariann Klingberg
Norway
Intern at UNRIC
Doriane Poulet, Edward Gregory-Jones, Brigitte Witzel, Agnès Tillinac,
Stéphanie Roussarie, Dina Knudsen, Julia Nekipelov, Alexander Degelsegger,
Deborah Weinberg, Klaas Ornelis, Carolina Figueroa, Despina Tsikoudis,
Vânia Rodrigues, Jorun Arndt, Céline Croon, Sidsel Washuus, Lieselotte Callebaut, Mariann Ingrid Klingberg, Effie Elefferiadou, Jakob Rindegren.
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008
PAGE 3
Bridging the Atlantic - A US-EU Conference
On 2 April 2008, the United States
Mission to the European Union organized a conference called ‘Bridging
the Atlantic: Common Ground on
Common Issues’.
The conference fits within the framework of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s policy, which emphasises
stronger collaboration with EU member
states, as well as with the European
Union. The conference was intended for
and attended by 37 interns of different
nationalities, most currently enrolled as
interns in EU institutions.
Following a welcome coffee provided
by the friendly interns at the US Mission
to the EU and the US Embassy to Belgium, the morning was opened by C.
Boyden Gray, US Special Envoy to the
EU, who explained that Brussels is increasingly gaining importance. Gray
described how only 10 years ago the US
representation to the EU dealt mainly
with economic issues and that there is a
lot more at stake nowadays, pointing out
among other initiatives state-building
efforts (e.g. Kosovo and Afghanistan),
energy policies and common counterterrorism measures. “The Mission is
formally the same, but it is bigger and
busier,” he said.
« Interns are the future »
Regarding EU foreign policy as a whole,
Gray said it was a relatively new area
that began to be actively employed during the wars in the Balkans. The Special
Envoy further explained that due to its
legal and constitutional structure, the US
is required to deal with EU member
states on a bilateral level on certain issues, and not only with the EU institutions. Nevertheless, said the US diplomat, a common communication strategy
does exist and is something we try to
pursue, especially during summits. For
example, he said, we see Kosovo as a
concerted US/EU effort. However, he
noted that the extent of US-EU collaboration and our desire to work together
has not yet filtered to the general public,
which has to do both with the worries
and concerns of some EU member states
as well as a certain mistrust of the present US administration.
The morning then continued with the
works of three separate roundtables,
each led by officials of the Mission. The
discussions were intended to stimulate
an open debate on ongoing common
issues. The themes for the different
roundtable discussions were Climate
Change and Energy; Foreign Policy in
the Middle East: US and EU joint efforts
in Iraq and Afghanistan; and finally
Anti-Terrorism and Justice.
The positive outcome of the morning’s
talks was mainly due to the efforts of
Terry Ann Paulo, an intern at the US
Mission. We asked her what in her opinion was the point of organizing such an
event, to which she replied that “its aim
was to channel EU and US interns’ flow
of ideas, as well as helping to describe
and understand current US policies”.
This conference is not the first of its
kind – the Mission has organized three
other substantive briefings for EU interns over the last two years. Another
intern event organized in Geneva by US
interns in 2006 gathered some 300 people for a reception in the US Mission
there. Ambassador Kevin E. Moley,
permanent representative in Geneva at
the time, was impressed by how efficient the event was in reaching a large
diversity of people. Not only overwhelmed by the outreach potential of
the happening, the diplomat added that it
was simply one of the best parties he
had ever attended!*
The morning conference in the US Mission was perhaps slightly less festive,
nevertheless the aim of both events was
the same: to bring together the next
generation of potential diplomats.
“Interns are the future”, Terry explained
when answering why the Mission was
directing parts of its efforts to reaching
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008
Photo: Mariann Klingberg
young people interested in international
issues. “Even ‘Condi’ started as an
intern” she added optimistically.
Embassies and representations in general follow their own government’s
policy and Terry explained that “there is
no clash between an intern’s personal
political view and that of his superiors.
Interns are given projects which they
must see to and are in no position to take
stands”. Just the sort of diplomatic answer we were expecting.
The morning ended with a snack lunch
offered by the US Mission, in full Brussels-networking style. Lots of phone
numbers, emails, “thank-yous”, “goodto-have-you-heres” and promises of
further, more informal encounters were
exchanged!
*Source: State Magazine 2006
Edward Gregory Jones
Italy
Intern at UNRIC
(Spanish desk)
PAGE 4
Framing the ‘food crisis’ in the European Union
- a reflection
In January 2007, 70,000 people took
to the streets in Mexico City in the
‘tortilla riot’, protesting against the
rising price of tortillas. Since then,
food protests have cropped up all over
the world - in Cameroon and Senegal
unions and taxi drivers have recently
been rioting alongside hungry crowds,
calling on their governments to act on
the rising cost of fuel and food. In
Haiti, prices have risen so much that
cookies for some of the country’s
poorest now are the only regular
source of food - cookies made of salt,
vegetable shortening and dried yellow
dirt.
Starting my internship at FAO (United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) in February, I was immediately
placed in the middle of the debate on
hunger, rising in the wake of the soaring
food prices.
The growing global population is demanding more food – and the appetite of
economically fast-growing nations
causes a surge in demand for meat and
dairy products, thereby requiring more
grain as feedstock. Rising oil and energy
prices have created the effect of substituting into bio fuels, thus diverting land
from the food chain and setting food
prices against fuel prices, creating competition between hungry cars and hungry
people. The impact of climate change is
also intensifying, causing droughts and
floods that affect the harvests. According to FAO these factors are some of the
main reasons why food prices have
soared, threatening to add an additional
million to the world’s already 800 million hungry people.
In March, I had the opportunity to hear
the World Food Programme’s Executive
Director, Ms. Josette Sheeran, address
the issue in the European Parliament.
Ms. Sheeran successfully brought the
urgency of the situation straight to the
hearts of the parliamentarians whose
stomachs were starting to crave their
daily lunch. The same was true for me,
and I learned that starvation is almost a
politically non-controversial issue, as
none of us can bear the thought of starv-
Drawing: Doriane Poulet
ing children. Two days before the
speech The European Commission
launched a 160 million Euro fund to
help alleviate world hunger.
The problem, however, is that food aid
cannot defeat hunger. Actions undertaken in the developing world must
distinguish between immediate crisis
response and longer-term interventions
aimed at helping farmers grow food
locally. However, the political message
of investing in agriculture is less poignant than the need for food aid, and mobilizing the pressure needed to act seems
to be most easily created by framing the
crisis in the name of starvation. Yet the
danger is that, besides under-prioritizing
long-term investment in agriculture,
focus is diverted away from addressing
the structural causes of the problem such
as consumption, climate change and bio
fuels – issues posing more controversial
political choices to the EU than mobilizing food aid.
On such issues, FAO and other UN
partners with regards to the European
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008
Commission can take only advisory
roles. These advice weigh against the
industry lobby, which controls a number
of the Commission’s Expert Groups on
issues such as ‘biotechnology’, ‘clean
coal’ and ‘car emissions’, according to a
recent report by the EU-transparency
network ALTER-EU. Within its own
system of consultation, it therefore
seems unlikely to me that the Commission can launch sufficient initiatives
needed to address these politically
loaded questions.
But if a serious number of European
citizens join the voices from the South,
complementing them by insisting that
the European political institutions address the policies and issues that hinder
the implementation of the human right
to food in the developing world – that
might shake-up the EU.
Sidsel Washuus
Denmark
Intern FAO
PAGE 5
A change of climate in the news media
Bjørn Lomborg fathered the Copenhagen Consensus – an annual
conference gathering more than 55 international economists, including 5 Nobel Laureates, to assess solutions for the world’s biggest
challenges and prioritize them according to their cost-efficiency.
Among other global challenges the 2008 Copenhagen Consensus
will address air pollution, global warming, malnutrition and hunger,
diseases, and water and sanitation. Previous Copenhagen Consensus assemblies have placed global warming on the bottom of the prioritized list to
much dismay of most environmentalists.
Martin Luther of the environmental
movement, climate contrarian, sceptical environmentalist, green hero,
Copenhagen con, saviour of the
planet.
the world’s 100 most influential people
and his appointment as director of the
Danish Environmental Assessment Institute, acting in an advisory capacity to
the Danish government, proves that he is
Bjørn Lomborg has been labeled many
things. Despite their contradictions Mr.
Lomborg has rightfully deserved many
of them. He made himself popular with
world leaders hesitant to sign international climate agreements when he, in front
of the American congress, advised them
to drop agreements like the Kyotoprotocol. On the other hand, environmentalists have scorned him for acting
as a puppet to industrial society and
downplaying the impact of climate
change. Furthermore, a number of researchers have filed a complaint for scientific dishonesty against Mr. Lomborg
rejecting his conclusions as false and
biased. However, the allegations were
overturned by the academy investigating
his case.
Lomborg has become quite a media
darling. As his input on a topic so high
on the current agenda causes conflict
and a sense of sensation he fulfills the
selection criteria of every news media
journalist. This is especially noteworthy
in a debate otherwise marked by almost
identical statements made by researchers
wanting to capitalize on the negative
consequences of climate change. With
his nerve and his toothpaste smile, the
news cameras love Mr. Lomborg.
The fact that his contribution to the debate draws daggers from his opponents,
makes him even more popular with the
press. And media coverage and exposure has proved to be key to anyone’s
capability to act convincingly. In 2004,
Time Magazine put him on the list of
The basic terms of a competitive news
media system with constant deadlines
are to report on cases standing out since
the last deadline. So for a story to make
the news and differ from the ones of the
competitors, it needs to be astounding,
catchy, and simple - even when the popular climate discussion desperately
needs a holistic and informed perspective. Sadly, Lomborg’s media-friendly list
of priorities only encourages the media
to ignore the complexity and interrelations of the world’s problems. His message is so easily simplified that news
journalists, by not deducing from his
conclusions a disregard for global warming and climate change, could be considered incompetent.
If the temperature of the globe is turning
feverish, it would be suitable to charac-
« If the temperature of the
world is turning feverish,
the effort of its inhabitants
could be categorized as delirious »
Cars caught in a tailback near Jardin Botanique. Through the
haze of their exhaustion you can vaguely see the Basilica of
Koekelberg.
Photo: Lars Olesen
taken seriously.
The aim of this article is not to decide
which of the introductory descriptions is
more suitable when presenting Mr.
Lomborg. Had I all the answers in the
climate change debate, I would not be
an intern at UNRIC writing this text.
Nevertheless, it sadly seems that both
Lomborg’s popularity and notoriety are
based on the media’s interpretations of
his conclusions, which often seem, if not
incorrect, then at least lacking nuance.
An exhaustive coverage of the consequences of climate change has largely
been absent in the Western news media.
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008
terize the effort of its inhabitants to cure
the illness as delirious. Groups, organizations, scientists and politicians all
seem to blindly grope for the ideal solution to the different problems of the
world, focusing on one problem at a
time. At least Lomborg is trying to put
the current global challenges into a larger perspective. Whether you agree with
his priorities and like the way he plays
the media is another matter, but let us
bring all opinions to the table as it cannot but strengthen our own argument.
Dina Knudsen
Denmark
Intern at UNRIC
(Nordic desk)
PAGE 6
Portraying EU migration policy
The effects of EU migration
policy in the case of Nafi, a Senegalese intern in Brussels.
EU for the purpose of studying is a key
factor in that strategy and fits perfectly
within the Migration and Development
logic.
Since 1999 and the Tampere Summit,
the European Union has decided to put
the migration issue high up on the agenda and has tried to develop a common
policy on the issue. However the process
is not easy and the EU objectives can
sometimes be hard to accommodate: for
instance, how can the EU be turned into
an attractive magnet for migrants, while
observing the ”preference communautaire” in the economic sphere and how can
highly skilled migrants be attracted
without contributing to brain drain?
The ”preference communautaire”
question
On the other hand, still within the framework of Migration and Development,
Nafi will be encouraged to go back to
Senegal once her training is completed,
in order to limit the brain drain impact
and to enhance the local capacities for
sustainable development in her country.
Prompting third country nationals to
return to their country of origin is in line
While the ”Migration and Develop-
« How can highly skilled migrants be attracted to EU
without contributing to
brain drain? »
ment” and ”Circular Migration” concepts seem to have recently created
necessary consensus, many issues are
still pending. Through the case of an
African intern, here is an outline of some recent developments in the EU field
of migration.
The EU as a worldwide center of excellence
Nafi is Senegalese and managed to
come to a EU member state to study for
a Masters in international law. She had
to be accepted by a European university
in advance, justify sufficient resources
for her stay and demonstrate a good
knowledge of the host country’s language. Thus, the embassy issued her a oneyear visa, for the duration of her curriculum. To graduate, Nafi then had to undertake six-months unremunerated training in a Belgian NGO and for this she
managed to get a second visa matching
the exact duration of her contract.
The visa facilitations granted to students, also available for researchers, lie
within the framework of the communitarian objectives to promote the EU as a
world centre of excellence. Promoting
mobility of third country nationals to the
As doctors are in high demand in many European countries
these highly educated professionals are at the core of the
migration discussion. Especially Africa is in dire need of
this
”human
capital”.
Photo: Mike Blyth, Wikimedia Commons
with the preference communautaire
logic establishing a limitation on their
admission to the EU territory for employment. Thus, Nafi will not, in principle, be permitted to extend her stay for
the purpose of seeking employment and
she will have to go back to Senegal in
order not to become “illegal” by having
“overstayed” on EU territory. Once back
in Senegal, what possibilities remain to
Nafi if she wants to work in an EU
country?
The European Blue card
Thanks to the new proposal adopted by
the European Commission on the creation of a European Blue card, following
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008
The visa facilitations granted to students and researchers are part of the EU objective to promote the EU
as a world center of excellence. Photo: Wikimedia
Commons
the pattern of the US Green card, it may
be possible for Nafi to come back one
day. The Blue card aims at attracting
and retaining highly qualified migrants
needed for the EU economy, increasing
the competitiveness of the EU in the
framework of the Lisbon strategy. By
facilitating their admission, implementing fast-track procedures, creating positive conditions for the workers and their
families, the EU will try to compete
with the US.
Although the Blue card remains at a
planning stage, it already creates a dilemma: with such a system, how can a
massive brain drain be avoided? Even if
the proposal mentions “ethical recruitment standards” and tends to promote
circular migrations schemes (i.e. arrangements which make it easier for
migrants or former migrants to circulate,
or travel back and forth, between the
country of origin and the country of
residence), some European Parliamentarians have expressed their skepticism.
Will it be possible to realize the EU
vision of competitiveness and at the
same promote development through
reversed brain drain? The question as to
whether the goals are combinable remains unanswered.
Agnès Tillinac
France
Intern at IOM
PAGE 7
Birth Registration and the Rights of the Child
Based on a conference at the European Parliament Committee on Development, 27-02-08
“Birth registration is a fundamental
human right and has strong implications
for the enjoyment of many other human
rights” Marta Santos Pais, UNICEF
violated more frequently.
In some countries the percentage of
birth registration is dramatically low,
e.g. only 4.2 % of children in Uganda
(2000) and 9.8 % in Bangladesh (2006)
are registered. Currently within the EU,
2 % of children are unregistered; while
worldwide in 2006 this was the case for
about 51 million children.
To inhabitants of developed countries,
« Birth registration is a fundamental human right »
In order to raise the number of children
being registered Pais outlines the following recommendations: (1) support
awareness raising and gain commitment
of all stakeholders; (2) promote legislative reform; (3) promote birth registration as a core development issue; (4)
support the provision of basic materials
for registration: pens and paper, roadmap to centre, etc.; (5) support training
for registrars; (6) promote mainstreaming of birth registration with other programmes, e.g. during immunization or
school entry; and (7) make it universally available, with special attention to
remote and hard to reach areas.
birth registration sounds rather like an
administrative detail, but in fact it is
fundamental to human welfare, and
furthermore to human identity. Birth
registration, in line with the Convention
on the Rights of the Child, offers rights
to protection from violence and abuse
and is a necessity in order to be able to
vote, to have a recognized name, a family history and a nationality. Further it
is needed to be able to open a bank account and to receive a marriage license,
social security, family allowances, a
pension and the right of inheritance.
The lack of a birth certificate, meaning
no proof of age and identity, means
unregistered children often lack access
to health and education and are vulnerable to abuse, child labour, prostitution,
child trafficking, early marriage and
enrolment into the army. This is especially a concern in the least developed
countries, often war affected and heavily
indebted, where children’s rights are
that when children are not registered
they are ignored by statistics and planners and are thereby invisible when
policy decisions or budgetary choices
are made. In general, Pais says, unregistered children can be characterized as
living in poor families, in rural and remote areas, belonging to ethnic minority
or indigenous groups, born to single
mothers, children in war-affected countries, or being children born in countries
heavily affected by AIDS.
Photo: Everystockphoto.com
According to UNICEF, the costs and the
distance to the registration centre are the
reasons most frequently cited by parents
for not registering their children. Marta
Santos Pais, Director of the UNICEF
Innocenti Research Centre, points out
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008
Though much remains to be done, some
positive developments that can be mentioned are that Cambodia, Gambia and
Vietnam, show significant progress in
their registration levels.
Klaas Ornelis
Belgium
Intern at UNRIC
(Benelux desk)
CAMPAIGNS
PAGE 8
Human rights- a small miracle
63 years ago, a group composed of
delegations from the four corners of
the world met with one focus: to prevent the repetition of World War II’s
horrors in the future, through the
creation of a Charter protecting human
dignity. The leitmotiv of the commission appointed by the newly created
United Nations was “never again”.
For two years, people as different as a
Chinese Confucian philosopher, the
widow of the former president of the
United States, and a communist delegate
had to work and live together in order to
produce a common document on the
fundamental rights of human beings.
tive], a Jew who had lost twenty-nine
relatives in the Holocaust and who was a
supporter of the creation of a Jewish
state, and Malik, a spokesperson for the
Arab League, these strong personalities
managed to work together toward the
drafting of the declaration”.
What the Human Rights Commission
achieved was indeed an impossible task,
and its unanimous vote, unexpected
even by the Commission, can be seen as
a small miracle. Deeply committed to
their mission, the commissioners responded to their mandate by overcoming
the myriad of differences that set them
apart.
For the first time in history, the international community embraced a document
considered to be presenting universal
values. Would this have been possible in
a context other than the post-war environment? Maybe not, and the Declaration is even more interesting because of
that.
As Micheline R. Ishay writes in her
book “History of Human Rights”:
“Despite constant philosophical rivalries
between Malik [the Lebanese representative] and Chang [the Chinese delegate], coupled with political tension
between Cassin [the French representa-
60 years later, the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights remains extremely
relevant and modern. However, the
stories about the drafting committee are
often unknown. The Declaration is more
a basis and a source for complementary
binding treaties than an end in itself. A
balance is always desirable between two
Drawing: Doriane Poulet
extreme stances: considering the document as sacrosanct or rejecting it because of its limitations.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
the United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) has launched a
yearlong campaign to raise awareness
and spread information on human rights,
KnowYourRights2008, through the
campaign website:
Source: M. R. ISHAY, The history of human
rights, 2004 , University of California Press.
Céline Croon
Belgium
Intern at UNRIC
(Director's desk)
Greening the United Nations in Brussels
The fight against climate change is
one of the top priorities of the UN
Secretary General (SG) Ban Ki-moon.
To lead by example Mr. Ban has set
the UN’s carbon neutrality and sustainability as an important objective.
In July 2007, he therefore asked all
heads of agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations to
support his initiative to carry the UN
towards a carbon neutral future.
Sustainable United Nations (SUN) is a
UNEP initiative, administered by the
Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch, which aims to support the
UN and other organisations to achieve
climate neutrality. In this framework
and following its own commitments,
UNEP Brussels has been encouraging
and implementing green behaviour
among its staff members.
What does it mean to be a green manner? In general, it is about being conscious of the impact of our daily activities on the environment and how we can
reduce it. It means to think about the
waste we produce, the food we eat, the
transport we take, the soap we use, the
time we spend in the shower, etc. For
UNEP Brussels it concerns particularly
waste management and reducing the
consumption of electricity and paper.
In line with this, not only UNEP Brussels but all the agencies located at UN
House in Brussels, are currently aiming
at obtaining the Label ‘Ecodynamic
business’ by ‘Institut Bruxellois pour la
Gestion de l’Environnement’. The label
certifies good environmental administraInternal Voices No 3/ May 2008
tion and is a long-term process and UN house has already taken the
first official steps to obtain the label.
The UN has 70,000 employees (not
counting interns!), imagine how significant the impact of changing their behaviour towards green actions could be.
Small changes in our daily habits can
collectively have a huge and positive
effect on the environment.
Check out UNEP’s Sustainable Consumption and Production Network
Carolina Figueroa
Colombia
Intern at UNEP
AGENCY SPECIAL
PAGE 9
Focus on UNHCR
UNHCR in the world
The Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the
United Nations General Assembly. The
agency is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect
refugees and to resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is
to safeguard the rights and well-being of
refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another
state, with the option to return home
voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country.
UNHCR Brussels: regional representation to European institutions and
Benelux
The Representation is structured around
four units: Donor Relations and Resources Mobilization, Protection, European
Affairs and Public Information. Supervision is ensured by the Representative
who is assisted by a secretary.
The Donor Relations and Resources
Mobilization Unit (DRRM)
DRRM deals only with contributions
from governments and intergovernmental bodies such as the European Commission. Its main role is to assure adequate funding of the UNHCR’s activities globally. Unlike many other UN
agencies, which are largely financed by
assessed contributions, UNHCR depends almost entirely on voluntary
contributions, with 80 per cent contributed by 10 countries. Although UNHCR's
Executive Committee approves the budget, this is not linked to an obligation to
fund the budget.
The Protection Unit
The Protection unit is responsible for the
Benelux countries. The main objectives
are to ensure that persons seeking international protection in these countries
will have access to the territory, to fair
and efficient asylum procedures and be
treated in accordance with international
standards.
To this end, the Protection Unit follows
legislative developments, monitors asylum practice, visits reception and deten-
Children in camp, (Afghan refugees / New Shamshatoo camp / School tents / April 2001)
© UNHCR / Photographer: L. Boscardi. Pakistan.
tion centers, observes refugee determination procedures, organizes participatory assessment with refugees, training for
lawyers, NGOs and decision makers
and, when necessary, intervenes in individual cases. Promotion and facilitation
of refugee family reunion and advocacy
for refugee resettlement are also important activities. Relations are maintained
with a wide variety of actors in the Benelux countries, at governmental and
non-governmental level.
The interns at the Protection Unit are
involved in these tasks, carrying out
research on country of origin information and dealing with legal issues. In this
framework the intern is in contact with
NGOs, state representatives and other
civil society actors. The Protection unit
comprises three officers, one administrative assistant and two interns.
The European Affairs Unit
The European Affairs Unit is responsible for following the developments of
European Union policy and legislation
in the areas of concern to UNHCR. Its
main task is to ensure that European
Union legislation and policies in the
fields of asylum, immigration, border
control and related areas reflect international legal standards of refugee protec-
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008
tion. The Officers formulate UNHCR’s
assessments on different instruments
adopted by the European Commission.
They also produce reports and evaluations on these instruments and keep
UNHCR colleagues throughout the
world informed about EU developments
of note in the asylum policy field... this
is a huge task and that’s the reason why
an intern is absolutely essential!
The intern is responsible for the research
and the collection of information pertaining to asylum from a variety of sources. Tasks also include the support to
advocacy officers in drafting documents
and attending meetings of the European
Parliament, NGO platforms, press
conferences and briefings.
PAGE 10
The Public Information Unit
The purpose of the Public Information
Unit is to promote a better understanding of UNHCR’s aims and activities.
The unit establishes and maintains close
working relations with the Benelux and
EU media to keep them regularly informed on UNHCR issues and activities
nationally and internationally in order to
ensure appropriate media coverage. The
unit also organises and gives press briefings and conferences as necessary, and
acts as spokesperson of the Office. It
needs to initiate and write press stories,
press releases, information bulletins and
other publications of all kinds. As an
intern, this gives you the possibility to
get familiar with all different aspects
and units within UNHCR.
The Public Information Unit also has the
task of raising awareness of the situations refugees are confronted with. This
involves planning and conducting campaigns, exhibits and other public awareness activities in support of the Office’s
work. In April 2008, a poster campaign
was launched to raise awareness about
the fact that fleeing is the only option
for refugees. This year, as always on the
20th of June, the celebration of World
Refugee Day will take place worldwide
to put refugees and UNHCR under the
spotlight. Creating a new toolkit and
organising activities around World
Refugee Day are examples of the way
the Public Information Unit in Brussels
tries to explain to people what it means
to be a refugee and to help them understand the work of UNHCR.
Public awareness plays an integral role
in the Private Sector Fund Raising section of the Public Information Unit.
Without a strong image, and without
visibility and awareness, raising funds
from any sources for UNHCR programs
are much harder.
UNHCR’s Public Information Unit believes that it is important to create
awareness of refugees’ lives. By describing refugees’ stories, the human
faces behind the numbers of displaced
people become visible. This makes it
possible for other people to understand
the ordeals refugees have been through.
As an intern, it has been an intense experience to listen to testimonies of refugees. Telling their stories to all kinds of
people is a way to create a more positive
atmosphere and understanding of refugee issues.
Liselotte Callebaut
Belgium
Intern at UNHCR
Public Information Unit
Julia Nekipelov
France
Intern at UNHCR
European Affairs Unit
On April 10th, 2008, the UNHCR
launched a bilingual poster campaign in
Belgium, aimed at raising awareness
about refugees and highlighting their
need for protection. For two weeks, over
2,000 French and Dutch-language posters were displayed in public places in
Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia.
There is widespread public confusion
about the difference between refugees
and migrants; refugees, who have
crossed borders to escape conflict and
persecution, are now frequently regarded with suspicion.
,
Acrobat Document
The posters stress the dangers that refugees are escaping from, differentiating
them from people arriving in places like
Refugee poster campaign in Belgium
Belgium in seek of work.
sal Declaration of Human Rights, this
Refugees flee because their life and
right to seek and to enjoy asylum from
freedom is at risk and they have a right
persecution is as relevant as ever.
to find protection elsewhere. This year,
with the 60th anniversary of the Univer-
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008
Deborah Weinberg
Belgium
Intern at UNHCR
Protection Unit
PORTRAIT
PAGE 11
From Vienna to New York
the new and broader challenges.
In addition, there is definitely an increased need for dialogue and thinking in
networks.
« Nowadays, most global
issues are cross-cutting, e.g.
climate change. »
For newcomers to the UN world and
the wider public, the number of forums and meetings taking place often
seems unmanageable. How can we
avoid inefficiency while providing for
the necessary space of encounter and
dialogue?
UN Assistant Secretary General Thomas Stelzer and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Photo with permission from Mr. Stelzer.
Recently appointed UN Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination
and Inter-Agency Affairs, Thomas Stelzer holds a profound conviction that we
have to contribute to the work of the UN to make it better. We asked him about
the UN system, current UN issues as well as for advice to hopeful interns.
In your new position you will, among
other things, manage the so called UN
Chief Executive Board (CEB), where
the Secretary-General coordinates the
work of all the specialized agencies
within the UN system. How would you
describe the Board's and your activities?
Twice a year, in the framework of the
CEB, the UN Secretary General meets
with the Heads of all the UN Family
Organizations (Funds and Programmes,
Specialized Agencies, "other related
organizations", Bretton Woods Institutions and one representative of each of
the five Regional Commissions) for the
purpose of UN system-wide coordination. The CEB adopts decisions prepared by three sub-structures: the HighLevel Committee on Programmes
(HLCP), the High-Level Committee on
Management (HLCM) and the UN Development Group (UNDG). Coordination is carried out along thematic lines,
e.g. climate change: CEB agreed on a
Joint Action Plan on Climate Change,
thus enabling the Secretary-General in
Bali to speak for the entire United Nations.
In an age of global challenges that are
cross-cutting and impossible to treat
separately, coordination within the
UN system appears to become more
and more important. What vision do
you have for your work in this
context?
Nowadays, most global issues are crosscutting, e.g. climate change. Within the
framework of UN coordination, all UN
entities need to define relevant niches
within which they can add their specific
comparative advantages and thus add
value to the UN activities.
Do we need new UN agencies for new
and broader challenges, or new partnerships, dialogue and thinking in
networks etc.?
There are always considerations regarding new agencies or upgrading Programmes into Specialized Agencies. I
do not see an urgent need for new structures. New partnerships of all relevant
stakeholders, including states and governments, civil society, academia as
well as the corporate world are increasingly pooling their resources to meet
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008
In trying to master this big challenge,
streamlining and better reporting, in the
preparation as well as in the implementation phase, is required. Furthermore,
accountability regarding implementation
should be increased.
Before being appointed Assistant Secretary-General, you served as the
Permanent Representative of Austria
to the UN Institutions in Vienna.
What motivated you to take the step
to New York?
I felt a need for change after nearly seven years in my old position. Most of
all, my passion for the UN and UN coordination questions were the motivating
factors. It is my profound conviction
that we have to contribute to the UN and
its work to make a difference.
Your advice to Brussels based UN
system interns?
Work hard, read a lot! Become aware of
whether you really want to invest your
life energies into the common good. Do
as much networking as possible, crosscutting all cultures, and remain realistic
so that you do not lose your optimism
and idealism!
Alexander Degesegger
Austria
Intern at IOM
COUNTRY SPECIAL
PAGE 12
Nigeria’s urban challenge
90 million in 1990, 117 million in
2001, 126 million in 2003, 135 million
in 2007 and an estimated 204 million
in 2030. When looking at the population size of Nigeria, it becomes clear
that it matters what year you look at.
With a 3 % annual population increase,
Nigeria is one of the fastest growing
countries in the world. With a current
population of 135 million this means
that one in five Africans live in Nigeria.
While its large population size gives
Nigeria importance as a regional and
global actor, population growth also
presents the country with a number of
serious challenges.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
One such challenge is the increasing
tension within Nigeria’s remarkable,
multicultural society. Nigeria boasts
In the centre of Africa, Nigeria has the largest population of
the continent.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
over 250 ethnic groups, 550 languages
(although English is the official language), three schools of law (English
common law, Sharia law and traditional
law) and a 50-40 percentage division
between Muslim and Christians. Existing difficulties in accurately counting
the population is a cause of conflict as
population size is a strong determinator
in the distribution of both power and
funds. The feeling of being underrepresented is likely to contribute to calls for
compensation in a country where corruption is widespread.
Another challenge for Nigeria is to
make its large oil reserves benefit the
growing population. Nigeria is today the
world’s fourth biggest exporter of crude
oil, representing 95% of its exports. Yet
70% of the population still live below
the poverty line and the country’s GDP
per capita of $2,200 means that Nigeria
ranks as number 174th in the world.
Fortunately, the economic growth still
exceeds the country’s population
growth.
A third challenge, linking the previous
two, is urbanisation. 2007 was the first
time in history where the world’s urban
population exceeded the rural population. Nigeria is no exception. A younger
urban population and rural to urban
migration mean that Nigeria’s urban
growth of 5 % even exceeds its overall
population growth.
By 2030, Nigeria’s urban population is
estimated to double equalling today’s
total population of 135 million. This
means that cities, normally seen as engines of growth, will be attracting a
large number of Nigeria’s multicultural
population to relatively small areas. And
herein lies the challenge and potential of
urbanisation.
Urbanisation in developing countries is
often synonymous with the lack of water
and proper sanitation, social exclusion,
criminality and vulnerability to natural
disasters. However, as hubs of commerce, production and know-how, cities
also have the potential to elevate developing countries from poverty.
However, this development is far from
certain since most new urban residents
are born, or arrive, in slums and find it
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008
difficult to improve their situation. Adding to the harsh living conditions in
slums, national and local authorities,
fearing the spread of criminality, sometimes forcibly evict slum dwellers. Since
2000, about 2 million people have been
forcibly evicted from their homes in
Nigeria, including almost 1 million
alone from the city of Port Harcourt in
2001.
UN-HABITAT’s main goal is to help
national and local authorities develop
sustainable ways to deal with urbanisation and to fight urban poverty. Help can
range from technical support in the field
of urban governance and planning, to
financial support to improved water and
sanitation infrastructures. However, in
order to make a significant improvement, further efforts are needed from the
entire donor community. The challenges
of reducing both ethnic tensions and
poverty in Nigeria’s changing demographic landscape are huge. Addressing
these challenges by looking at the potential of urbanisation might not be the only
solution, but it is probably an increasingly important one.
Jakob Rindegren
Sweden
Intern at UN-HABITAT
PAGE 13
Joao (Portugal)
Interns on internships
“You need some experience to get a job, but
no one will give you the chance to get that
experience! So far internships have mostly
been unpaid, and all about bringing coffee
and making copies, yet, it is changing now
as national and international internship
programs are being created”.
Antoine (Belgium)
“It is contradictory: once you are
done with your studies, people
judge you on your language skills
and the number of internships you
have done, although internships
are not necessarily conclusive”.
Dina (Denmark)
Klaas (Belgium)
“Internships are an
opportunity to start
working without having
too many responsibilities. Our government
wants us to finish our
studies as soon as possible, yet companies
want us to get experience before hiring us.
“Internships should
be included in higher education to
give students practical experience with
their studies. This is
also an advantage
when they enter the
job market. International sciences and
international relations policy makers
in Belgium should
consider this possibility”.
As students in Denmark
are rather “old” when
starting college, they
get even more demanding as for internships”.
Despina (Greece)
Céline (Belgium)
“In
Greece internships are not widely spread except for those that
are part of university studies.
“Internships are usually
part of our studies. It does
not matter much if they are
not paid, yet interns should
get some help for transport
and accommodation. However, employers should not
demand that applicants for
a job must have done a long
period of unpaid internship
because it is not easy to
afford that”.
You get the opportunity to have
great experiences
as internships are
really nice, and
get a first glance
of the work life”.
Drawing: Vânia Rodrigues
Intern at the UN…..
« Wow!!!....Now, that’s something I
HAVE to love…but wait….am I able to
do that? ...Do I have the skills required?
The United Nations Regional Information
Center… And they offer ME, random
French student in Toulouse, the great
opportunity to do an internship in Brussels?!! ... What exactly will I have to do?
How is it going to be like? The United
Nations has such a great, yet mysterious
image that it seemed hard at first to really
know what I would be asked. Then you
get to meet your desk officer and all the
people you are going to work with. And
everything is put in place. The nebulous
organization turns out to be more accessible, human than I would have thought.
A worldwide-respected international
organization living through people like
you and me. Such a warm welcome,
such a good atmosphere. Lots of people
from various backgrounds and countries
working together, numerous languages
being used. And, unlike in many other
organizations and firms, interns at the
UN are not asked to bring coffee or to
make copies for others...not even
once….!!! Thanks to the daily press
reviews I get to know everything that is
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008
happening worldwide. Translations keep
my knowledge about foreign languages
“updated”. I feel more useful and enriched every day. Such a learning experience. Welcome to the United Nations!
»
Stéphanie Roussarie
France
Intern at UNRIC
(French desk)
PAGE 14
In Brussels, it is not only the job hunting…
September 2007, Tuesday afternoon, I
arrived at the Brussels International
airport. It was raining (surprise, surprise!). I took a taxi to my youth hostel, paying 60 euros to the Moroccan
origin driver only to find out later
that the tariff was 30 euros.
from a people living in a small, wealthy
country at the heart of Europe and host
of the EU, the organisation promoting
unity.
After a few months here, I still cannot
figure out if Belgium exists or not, but I
do know that somewhere between
At the hostel I was served by a very
helpful Chinese receptionist, bought a
bottle of water from a Pakistani corner
shop and had a walk in the Arab neighbourhood where my youth hostel was
located.
After a few months, I feel I have adapted quite well to Brussels, eating exclusively sandwiches and waffles and carrying an umbrella in my bag on a daily
basis –which however is useless most of
the time, since it has often stopped raining once I get it out of my bag and
open it.
I have to admit that incidents like a Walloon’s (ethno) regionalistic delirium one
October evening at the metro, a Flemish
guy’s nationalistic hate speech at the
laundry service one Saturday morning
and Belgian flags hanging from the
windows, surprised me even though I’m
from the Balkans. I didn’t expect this
France and Netherlands lies the capital
of Europe.
Shattering the stereotypes of a dull,
eurocratic urban center, “Bruxelles Capitale” is a “multi-culti”, lively city. To
me, the colourful comic strip murals
decorating the buildings, the irresistible
sweet smell of waffles from a street
vendor, the “petits chef-d'œuvres” made
from chocolate, grown ups reading comic books on the bus and of course the
little-naughty-peeing landmark of Brussels, all create a childlike, unique atmosphere surrounding the Art Nouveau
architecture of the city.
And then for the job hunters, here are
some links that may be useful to those
looking for a traineeship opportunity in
Brussels. Once you find what you have
been looking for, you will realise on
your own that not only living, but also
working in Brussels, is a unique experience in itself!
One of the numerous comic strip
walls in Brussels
Photo: Magnus Langli
And finally a tip for the newcomers: do
not feel discouraged if you don’t
speak/pronounce English/French correctly. You are in Brussels, nobody
does! ;-)
Looking for an internship or a job in Brussels?
We have gathered some links for you
here below.
Traineeships at the European Institutions:
European Organizations independent
from the European Union:
Flemish Public Employment Service
(VDAB)
Council of the European Union
Council of Europe
Stepstone search engine
European Commission
Eurojobs
European Parliament
United Nations:
Court of Justice
UNbrussels
European Economic and Social Committee
Other Organizations:
NATO
European Job Mobility Portal
European Ombudsman
Joint Research Centre (JRC)
International Organization for Migration
(IOM)
Expatica
Community Training Programme for
Junior Experts in the Commission Delegations
Assembly of European Regions (AER)
European Personnel Selection Office
(EPSO)
Other useful links:
Eurobrussels Jobsite
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008
Orientation Employment portal (French)
Actiris (French/Dutch)
Arbajob search engine (French/Dutch)
Effie Elefferiadou
Greece
Intern at UNFPA
PAGE 15
Despite the fact that Brussels is vigorously proud of its
coffee culture, I still miss my Starbucks coffee. It is not
so much the coffee- it’s the whole experience.
«I have been to Brussels so many times and even though I
enjoy having an espresso with each waffle, with each speculoos and after each meal, there is still something missing…
Nowadays, I am living in Brussels and am not a tourist anymore. I have a regular life, but what I call “the missing sensation” has increased. I miss ordering, (in Starbucks’ unique
language) a “tall chai latte” or a “grande americano“ on my
way to work; or alternatively, sitting in one of their “love
seats” for hours while I read a book or chat with friends
enjoying the smell of freshly brewed coffee.
calls it each time he comes to see me), as well as to adapt to the
habit of visiting a place where I burn my tongue each time I drink
a brewed coffee.
Nevertheless, everything I have mentioned above and the feeling
of greeting the same Starbucks employee every morning while
going to work becomes part of my “working day” or part of my
“weekend treat”. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it becomes
part of my routine. Some could argue that routines are boring;
well, I truly invite you to try “the Starbucks’ routine” and send
me an email later!»
Birgitte Wizel
Brazil
Intern at WHO
However, I am Brazilian and very loyal to espressos so it
took me a while to get used to the “bucket style” (as my dad
I would like to share a point of view that may appear
original in this magazine, that of an “indigenous” person… a Belgian.
Brussels is not only a city built forever (and ever), teeming
with mountains of waffles, or holding kids constantly
peeing. For me, Brussels is also the scene of an endless argument between two communities, the Flemish and the
French-speaking, it is the life of a particular dialect created
from these two languages and it is a city possessing an intimate and friendly atmosphere, but yet alternative.
In August 1830, Brussels was the stage of a “revolution”.
The opera Muette of Portici with a theme of patriotism and
liberty was being staged at the national theatre. The similarity between the plot and the Belgian situation generated some
“enlightenment” and led the population to rebel against the
Dutch power. A few weeks later, the Dutch army fled the
country during the night, covering the hooves of their horses
with textile for a silent escape. Belgium was born…
Maybe because of these origins, Belgium has often been
seen as a land of freedom among artists such as Maurice
Béjart or Victor Hugo.
speaking), 7 parliaments and 5 governments. Well, it seems that
one of the principles of Belgium is “not being simple”. And maybe because of that, a characteristic of the Belgian people is to not
pay too much attention to political problems. 6 months without a
government? Never mind, life goes on…
One of the best qualities of Belgians is, in my view, our selfmockery. The daily cartoons that can be found in the national
newspapers about Belgian politics literally illustrate this feature.
A French political specialist once described Belgium as a model
of rationality: even if there are many problems and intrinsic differences, they do not turn to war because they use the philosophy
of negotiation and compromise as much as possible.
Brussels has a lot to offer, and some places I like to go to are the
Museum of the Cinema, where you can find projections of mute
films accompanied by live piano music, the national theatre and
opera La Monnaie, the museum of contemporary art Bozar, Botanique- a concert venue, and finally Rue Haute (close by place
Louise) with its special cafés and antique dealers.
I invite you to sample that particular atmosphere which makes
Brussels so unique.
The composition of Belgium is unique: one small country
but with 3 official languages (French, Dutch and, after
WWII, German with the annexation of a German province),
3 regions (Wallonia, Flanders and Brussels), 3 communities
(French-speaking of Belgium; Flemish and German-
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008
Céline Croon
Belgium
Intern at UNRIC
(Director's desk)
PAGE 16
TÜà|áà fÑxv|tÄ
Klaas Ornelis is Belgian, from the Flanders
region and an intern at
the United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe,
working for the Benelux desk. He holds
a Master in Political Sciences – International Relations and Europe and a Master in Applied Ethics (International English Programme), both from the University of Leuven.
« As far as I can remember I have been
drawing and painting. As a child, I was
fascinated by coloured pencils and the
world around me. Later as a hobby during high school, I went to the art academy for three years, and in University I
still found the time in the evenings
and the weekend to obtain my second
year of the higher degree in the art of
painting at the Art Academy of Zottegem.
It was in my last year at the academy
that I made the sketch of the bear in
charcoal and later in oil paint. The oil
painting took several weeks, since it
first had to be drawn in correct proportions, and then by painting layer
by layer the creation eventually became the warm and colourful bear it
now is. »
Internal Voices No 3/ May 2008