I developed a passion for logic in my childhood. As the son of an Iraqi military officer, I often traveled with my family, encountering people who desperately needed resources. Since then, I have always been interested in finding smart solutions to distribute resources effectively and help those in need.

Driven by these interests, I joined the United Nations after graduating with a degree in engineering. I started out with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Iraq, the largest humanitarian agency dedicated to fighting hunger across the globe. My position was within the logistics branch, tracking commodities and designing new database systems that enhanced the efficiency of tracking administrative information, which allowed the WFP to track and ensure that food items reached their intended beneficiaries.

Wanting to expand my global reach, I moved to the United States to study international management and business administration. Soon after graduating, I accepted a position within the Department of Field Support (DFS). DFS provides support to peacekeeping and political field missions in areas such as human resources, finance, and logistics. This position has allowed me to help sustain missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sierra Leone, the Sudan, Nepal and Liberia.

My current post is in Nicosia, Cyprus, where I am helping to better manage United Nations resources. Our team at DFS focuses on removing redundancy in operations to guarantee that the safety, hygiene, and services within the mission meet United Nations standards. My role is to offer sound, strategic leadership to my staff and equip them with new skills to avoid waste and to lower the cost of their operations.

I begin my workday by verifying urgent matters and checking the progress of pending deliverables. I usually spend my time with colleagues in meetings, sharing experiences and brainstorming on how we can best sustain evolving services without diverting from our strategic plans. Lunch is followed by on-site visits to verify outstanding issues. After the day’s work is finished, I go home, change my clothes and go jogging. I am lucky to be in a place that allows me to do some of the activities that I enjoy. For example, on Friday nights, my wife and I go salsa dancing! My advice for others is to live your days to the maximum, and balance your time doing enjoyable activities while soaking up the culture around you.

It is an honor to work in the field and to see our efforts make a difference in the lives of the people around us. However, logistics services can be very dynamic and demanding. Often, when I arrive in a country, I cannot speak the native language. When my duties brought me to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nepal, and the Sudan, I had to learn the respective languages in order to do my job effectively. Although this was a challenging feat, it was worthwhile and a joy to be better integrated into the local communities. By embracing each of their cultures, I was able to better understand the specific needs of the people. This has enabled our team to assist the missions in successfully delivering to the public.

Working at the heart of the action on large operations is quite exciting and traveling to work overseas is a privilege. I wanted to learn how to help people from different cultures, and how to deal with strategic and massive operations, all the while being exposed to international ethics and values. Throughout my career, the United Nations has been a place that has nurtured all of these personal aims. My experiences at the United Nations have allowed me to see the world from different perspectives. Looking back, the small Iraqi boy who saw all the turmoil and grief while traveling with his dad has grown to be an agent of relief; I am grateful for this.