Which Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) does your work contribute to, and how?

DRR is broad and is interwoven with, building on, contributing to, or as it often is, an indispensable part of SDGs. UNDRR lists 10 SDGs (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14, and 15) and 25 targets that relate to DRR and vice versa. To narrow this down, the Sendai Framework is designed to complement reporting on 11 indicators under SDG1, SDG11, and SDG13. UNDP builds disaster and climate resilience by supporting partner countries throughout the whole risk cycle: in prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. In my work, I do this by working with resilience professionals to advance an integrated and comprehensive resilience agenda that empowers our national partners to report against targets set out in Sendai, and thereby also SDGs. During my first year here, we’ve built flood resilience through riverbed restoration, reforestation, and knowledge-building; we’ve initiated development of the National Adaptation Plan; we’ve organised quarterly DRR stakeholder coordination meetings for coherent policy dialogues and development in North Macedonia, among other activities. The work continues!

What has been the most challenging project you've undertaken during your time with UNDP, and what did you learn from the experience?

I’ve held this position for just over a year, so I haven’t yet been able to undertake a project here throughout a complete project cycle. That said, I arrived during an intense period where we were delivering complex, nature-based flood protection measures under a project to improve food resilience in an upper segment of the Vardar basin. This is a good example of where the complexity I mentioned related to operationalising best-practice in real situations: these ‘new’ approaches (in this case ecosystem-based DRR solutions for flood protection) can at times be difficult to implement due to, for example, other ways of working that’s been practised over time, i.e. part of a wider logic and view of the current landscape functions. New models, methods, or interventions must function within complex sets of dynamic conditions – else they risk becoming ineffective, laborious, and costly, potentially even counterproductive in case of incongruity with current systems. I learned a ton about approaching implementation pragmatically and patiently with consideration for harmonising differences while optimising development results.

What has been the most rewarding experience you have had at your duty station - whether professional or personal - that has shaped your journey as a JPO?

The most rewarding experience for me, both personally and professionally, has been to get an opportunity to live and work in a completely new setting. While I’ve spent my professional life outside of my native country, I had only been to the Western Balkan region once, in one country. This has added an incredible learning dimension to my time here through language, culture, and history. While this dimension probably isn’t unique to my JPO experience, it stands out to me as the most rewarding experience since I believe it provides me with opportunity to grow as a professional and as a person. Regardless of the day – whether it’s an exciting one, a slow one, a positive, neutral, or negative one – I have grown here.