What are the main activities/tasks you are working on? What is a day at the office/in the field like? 

Within the PDD Secretariat, I act as the focal point for our policy portfolio on migration and displacement, specifically as regards the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) and the Global Compact for Refugees (GCR), along with associated policy processes and programmes. 

That said, being part of a relatively small team means that my tasks can vary and often cut across relevant portfolios, including those on disaster risk reduction and climate change, particularly when working on cross-cutting issues such as climate finance in human mobility contexts. As such, I rarely (and fortunately) have a typical day at the office and enjoy the dynamic nature of my work. 

In geographic terms, besides the policy engagement in Geneva and strategically in New York, I have worked extensively in East Africa, coordinating together with our partners activities on disaster preparedness, data and risk modelling.

In your day-to-day work, what SDG(s) are you helping to implement? 

My responsibilities span the entire Agenda 2030, but if I had to highlight specific SDGs particularly relevant to my role, they would be SDG 10 on Reduced Inequalities, especially Target 10.7, which focuses on facilitating orderly, safe, and responsible migration, as well as SDG 13 on Climate Action.

What is the most challenging project that you have worked on/are working on? 

One of the most challenging yet rewarding projects I have worked on recently was organizing a series of disaster preparedness workshops and cross-border disaster displacement simulation exercises in East Africa. This project brought together a diverse range of actors, including national and local governments to the military and NGOs. Coordinating logistics—often from afar—and creating simulation scenarios required flexibility, creativity, and stamina. The collaboration with my regional partners, specifically from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and other UN colleagues was critical to making this work a success. While it always takes time to fully evaluate and understand the lessons learned and outcomes achieved in any given project, this experience underscored for me the critical importance of building partnerships across and beyond the UN family.

What has been the most rewarding experience to date for you at your duty station? (work and/or non-work related) 

Within the PDD Secretariat, I act as the focal point for our policy portfolio on migration and displacement, specifically in regards the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) and the Global Compact for Refugees (GCR), along with associated policy processes and programmes. 

That said, being part of a relatively small team means that my tasks can vary and often cut across relevant portfolios, including those on disaster risk reduction and climate change, particularly when working on cross-cutting issues such as climate finance in human mobility contexts. As such, I rarely (and fortunately) have a typical day at the office and enjoy the dynamic nature of my work. 

In geographic terms, besides the policy engagement in Geneva and strategically in New York, I have worked extensively in East Africa, coordinating together with our partners activities on disaster preparedness, data and risk modelling.

My responsibilities span the entire Agenda 2030, but if I had to highlight specific SDGs particularly relevant to my role, they would be SDG 10 on Reduced Inequalities, especially Target 10.7, which focuses on facilitating orderly, safe, and responsible migration, as well as SDG 13 on Climate Action. 

One of the most challenging yet rewarding projects I have worked on recently was organizing a series of disaster preparedness workshops and cross-border disaster displacement simulation exercises in East Africa. This project brought together a diverse range of actors, including national and local governments to the military and NGOs. Coordinating logistics—often from afar—and creating simulation scenarios required flexibility, creativity, and stamina. The collaboration with my regional partners, specifically from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and other UN colleagues was critical to making this work a success. While it always takes time to fully evaluate and understand the lessons learned and outcomes achieved in any given project, this experience underscored for me the critical importance of building partnerships across and beyond the UN family.

During my first year as a JPO at the PDD Secretariat, I was tasked with launching and overseeing a small research project funded by Germany through GIZ to assess the implementation of GCM commitments on human mobility and climate change. Almost three years later, with the ongoing support of a dedicated research team and joint leadership with International Organization for Migration (IOM),this small project grew into a comprehensive data repository with dedicated analyses and indicators embedded in the UN Network on Migration. It also culminated in the CLIMB Database on Human Mobility in the Context of Disasters, Climate Change, and Environmental Degradation, hosted on the Migration Network Hub. It has been extremely rewarding to see and actively shape the catalytic development of a relatively small project into something much larger.