The privilege of making a difference.
The responsibility to keep building on our knowledge.
Meet Fernando Aramayo Carrasco, Programme Coordinator for UNDP in Bolivia, who shares his experience of working for an organization that values learning and collaboration.
From the get-go, I dived into UNDP´s world to contribute towards the implementation of organizational processes in my role as Programme Coordinator and Institutional Management in Bolivia.
The role involves devising a portfolio that echoes national needs and UNDP’s programming priorities, as well as providing political advice to the Resident Representative and Deputy, so I always have to stay on top of the latest trends and issues in the country’s socio-political landscape. I also need to be abreast of public policies or innovations being implemented in other countries and whether they would be relevant to our county’s context. I’m constantly coming up with new offerings for our portfolio, mobilizing resources and brokering new alliances for the organization, and this can be demanding work, especially when you’re jumping into it from day one.
It was a challenge, of course. Starting anew and gaining trust from peers and supervisors, as well as partners, is always demanding. But I found immense support from my team and colleagues, and a wealth of resources available to educate myself about the organization. And those continue to be two characteristics of UNDP that have consistently stood out to me over the years — the culture of learning and empowerment and the support from a global network of colleagues who are always willing to share their knowledge and experiences.
Daily opportunities for building a meaningful career
I have only been working with UNDP for two and a half years, with many years of experience in bilateral donor organizations and academia behind me — but one thing I have realized is that it does not matter how experienced or qualified you are, there is always something new to learn. UNDP is a highly prestigious organization, whose work standards in sustainable development are recognized by governments, academic institutions and think tanks all over the world. Working in this environment, therefore, has demanded a lot from me, as a person and a professional, but it’s also given me the resources and opportunities to learn, to grow and to expand my horizons, without being spoon-fed.
“We all realize that each of us is playing a role in making tangible, real impacts on the world and in people’s lives, and that if we collaborate and share with one another, we can increase that impact.”
A global network of support
And then there is this network I feel privileged to be a part of. A community that is committed to learning from one another — sharing experiences, processes, and innovations. It is not a community that competes or tries to trample on each other to rise to the top. You are not part of any superficial interactions or discussions. We all realize that each of us is playing a role in making tangible, real impacts in the world, and in people’s lives and that if we collaborate and share with one another, we can increase that impact.
Sharing knowledge through horizontal leadership
I believe that in order to learn from others we need to build horizontal leadership processes. I implement this within my own team, to ensure that my colleagues feel that they have the opportunity to share opinions, ideas or innovations across teams and with the senior management team. This challenges me as a team leader to not only focus on sharing my experience and passing on my knowledge to the team but to ensure I’m adding value to their experiences and to remember that I, too, can learn from them.
I understand I am privileged to be working towards a life-changing mission of making the world a better place with UNDP — and that my contributions to the diverse needs of different countries and communities, including in the diverse and multicultural Bolivian context, will have a real impact. But I also know that with that privilege comes responsibility. UNDP demands the best of me as a person and as a professional, and the responsibility is to accept the challenge of seeking out different, or even better, ways to do my job every day, with the confidence of being supported by UNDP’s leadership and by my colleagues.
