My United Nations career has taken me on a global adventure. I wanted to work for the United Nations in order to acquire international exposure and work experience. Even after having been here for a number of years, I am constantly inspired by the workings of the Organization, particularly in the areas of technical cooperation and peacekeeping.

I have audited a variety of peacekeeping missions, from Rwanda to Yugoslavia to Cyprus. What this means, is that I examine each peacekeeping mission on an individual basis, and make sure that all the tasks involved amount to an operation running as efficiently and effectively as possible. While working, I always ask myself “Is this operation achieving what it set out to achieve?” It is my responsibility to report to Headquarters any material weaknesses that I see in the everyday operations of these missions.

I provide specialized knowledge where it is needed. I am one of a smaller group of the audit services that specifically focuses on technology as well as knowledge and information management. We are actively exploring ways to make information available, accessible, and friendly to the user.

I've also been involved in technical cooperation projects in several East African countries. Working in technical cooperation means assisting in the development and achievement of an economic or social goal. For example, because the United Republic of Tanzania was interested in establishing a functional tax collection system, a technical cooperation project was created in cooperation with the United Nations to help them achieve this goal.

There is no doubt that the United Nations work environment is unique because of the richly diverse workforce that we have. We are a compilation of the best the world has to offer. In fact, the Organization can be viewed as a microcosm of the entire world, which comes together in good times and in bad. The compounded efforts of so many individuals working together from such diverse backgrounds results in an output that is neither culture nor country specific. The body of knowledge that comes out of the compilation of these diverse backgrounds is very dynamic and committed to improving life conditions for everyone on our planet.

A typical day in my work life is comprised of collecting information about a United Nations activity that is subject to an audit, analyzing the information collected and building an understanding of how that activity functions. This entails reading, meeting and interviewing people, and considering benchmarks for measuring success of the subject activity. Operations such as those of the peacekeeping missions need to be done effectively, efficiently, and with accountability. The member states pay for the peacekeeping operations and there needs to be assurance that all finances are being handled in the most responsible manner. A true challenge of the audit work is to determine objectively whether anything went wrong, and if so in what way, and why.

Prospective applicants may be well advised to read about the United Nations, and focus specifically on the area(s) of their interest. An applicant would ideally be familiar with the United Nations mandate, structure, rules and regulations and outputs, most of which are readily available online.

My interests include, first and foremost, creating a United Nations web presence for affiliated employees who are parents of children with special needs. Such a virtual "meeting place" will provide a platform offering relief, common ground, and fellowship for these parents who may need to raise their children within the unique work environment of the United Nations.

One more interesting fact about me: I have been trained as a classical pianist at the Rubin Conservatory (now a part of Tel Aviv University) and graduated at the same time I graduated from high school. Our director at the time was the son of Ms. Golda Meir, a famous prime minister. I also enjoy the outdoors, but can only devote limited time to outdoor activities.