Building wings through education, taking flight at UNDP
Meet Madina Karsakpayeva a UNV Programme Officer for UNDP/UNV in Kazakhstan, recruited through the Talent Programme for Young Professionals with Disabilities, who shares how her international education and determination gave her the strength to build a life-changing career at UNDP.
I represent the first participant of the Talent Programme for Young Professionals with Disabilities in Kazakhstan. I joined UNDP in 2020, but only just began my work here in January. Previously, I worked at the British Council in Kazakhstan.
My educational background with Erasmus Mundus, Fulbright and other scholarship programmes developed my need for diversity everywhere, including obviously in the workplace. I would like to show, by my own experience and example, that it is possible to join this huge global community and to increase awareness among future potential participants with disabilities that, through education, as well as the experience I had before like volunteering, I was able to join UNDP. I also want to bring some changes in regards to UNDP’s work on disability-inclusive development. In Kazakhstan, as in many other developing countries in the world, we have a lack of awareness and information on disability in terms of terminology related to people with disabilities, as well as how to work with them and accept them as full members of society.
““Education was a great power that gave me wings. Because I cannot, obviously, fly. I cannot even jump, but with determination and hard work I was able to study abroad and join a life-changing mission with UNDP.””
Educating for inclusion
I am part of the Governance Unit in UNDP Kazakhstan. The Governance Unit works in several different areas, one of them being social protection, which obviously includes disability. Just recently we finished the project on COVID-19 impacts on disabled people in Kazakhstan. This will be a part of a global recommendations guide on involving people with disabilities in reacting to circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, I conduct sessions on inclusion and diversity in the workplace with a focus on disability for UNDP staff in Kazakhstan.
Building confidence among people with disabilities
Being homeschooled when I was younger due to my disability definitely had some impact on my confidence which I had to develop. There is a portion of people with disabilities, especially those coming from developing countries, including Central Asia, who don’t really feel confident enough.
When people in Kazakhstan, or any other country in this region, see someone different on the street or somewhere in a public place, they stare. And they may even say something unpleasant but today I have so called immune system against that. I usually just smile when such situations occur.
Education was a great power that gave me wings. Because I cannot, obviously, fly. I cannot even jump, but I was able to reach this level. So when I got the chance to study abroad, it completely changed my life. And for future participants, people with disabilities who may have required qualifications to join the UN system, I would just give one recommendation — to be proactive. That’s what I had to learn all my life and every day I still continue to shape this crucial skill.
Every morning I wake up, I realize I have a job that’s neither usual nor regular. I’m working for an international organization, a global community, a dream job for many people. And it comes with gratitude a that I was chosen for this position and was given the opportunity to share what I know.
What makes UNDP a good employer is, for me, as a person with a disability, the principle of ‘leave no one behind’. After only a few months at UNDP, I see, every day, a combination of teamwork, productivity and creativity and I’m happy to say I’m still constantly learning something new.
I see myself as a growing professional within the UN system, and continuing to develop disability-inclusive projects, policies and activities at both the regional and international levels.
