Working for the United Nations was a natural decision: I have an enduring interest in learning about global development issues and how they impact on individuals across the world.

My interest in the United Nations was prompted by my early career with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in the western Nigerian city of Ibadan - an international award-winning research centre focused on fighting poverty and hunger through sustainable farming and land productivity. My team supported scientists from across the world, working on critical research to find breakthrough solutions to real problems affecting food production in sub-Saharan Africa.

This experience exposed me to the essential link between knowledge and development triggering my strong belief in the power of the multilateral approach to global and development problems. The United Nations role of bringing countries together to tackle the many pressing issues our world faces got me hooked. Joining the Organization was an opportunity for me to step up my career in international development.

My first United Nations experience in 1991 further deepened my interest in global development issues: As Senior Reference Librarian at the Vienna International Centre (VIC) Library in Austria, I was deeply impressed by the diversity of global development subjects I dealt with, and the vibrancy of VIC, both as a venue of big issues conferences and as a multicultural workplace.

The VIC, fondly known as UNO City by Austrians, is the seat of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations Office at Vienna, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and several other United Nations programmes and agencies.

From there, I moved on to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, starting with a two-year stint as Library Systems Consultant, before securing a regular post in 2001. The Regional Commission in Addis Ababa serves as a pan-African institution that works with various regional entities to support Africa’s development efforts.

The library exists to support the Commission’s work. We provide access to high quality electronic and print information resources - online journals, books and periodicals - to support research in all areas of ECA’s programmes. These range from food security and sustainable development; gender and social development; governance and public administration; science and technology; regional integration to trade, and finance as well as economic development.

It also serves as an African regional library of economic and social development with over 11,000 users worldwide. Added to this, we service the over 860 ECA staff members through training and by providing what we call “fresh insights” into how they can to do their work better.

In my work as a Librarian, I emphasize the power of effective access to information and knowledge as the precondition for development and human security in all its dimensions. As part of our outreach, we sensitize librarians in Africa through major regional conferences to lobby their governments and development partners to put access to knowledge on Africa’s development agenda.

I am inspired by the frequent opportunities to make a difference in the lives of people and organizations. I have had the opportunity to co-convene the Access to Information Network-Africa and the International Conference on African Digital Libraries and Archives. The goals were to develop strategies to build capacity for digital libraries in Africa. As a knowledge advocate, this is very dear to me. Many sources of knowledge on development issues on Africa are being produced and stored outside the continent because of the lack of adequate local institutional and human capacities.

My career in the Organization has taken me on official assignments to many countries across the world, making me feel much more like a global citizen.

As a workplace, the Organization looks for strong and resilient staff. You will need determination and optimism to effectively play a part in the large and complex missions that characterize the Organizations’ work.