Windhoek
Olivia Haludilu of the Young Professionals Programme (YPP) has been chosen along with 13 young professionals from non- and underrepresented countries to join the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on a year contract in Paris and in a number of field offices.
This is the first time that a Namibian representative is chosen to be part of UNESCO under the YPP. “I am honoured and humbled to have been selected to join UNESCO via the YPP 2015. I had a 1.5% of being chosen and I have to pinch myself every now and then to see if it is all real. This is a great opportunity not just for me but for our country,” says the excited Haludilu The newly selected 14 young professionals, nine women and five men, come from all regions of the world, five from non-represented member-states, and nine from underrepresented member states, such as: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liberia, Zambia, New Zealand, Oman, Namibia, Montenegro, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Singapore, Slovenia, Portugal, Viet Nam, and Luxembourg.
Their background includes advanced degrees (Ph.D., Master, LLM) in areas such as development and globalisation, natural resources; public policies; international relations; business administration; environmental law; law and security; public international law and applied accounting. The young professionals will acquire training and work experience in development cooperation; project management; administration of multilateral programmes and projects, either within UNESCO’s field offices or at the headquarters. Haludilu says as a global citizen, UNESCO has given her a platform to become an international civil servant and contributes the little knowledge/experience she has towards the betterment of human kind. “I am a proud Namibian and I will act as an emissary for our beloved country in my conduct, my work and professionalism. Namibia is under represented in a lot of international bodies such as the United Nations, World Bank, the Common Wealth, the African Development Bank just to name a few. This is probably due to our small population, but a lot has to do with the fact that the information about these kinds of opportunities is not readily available.”
“I would like to focus on mentorship and coaching of young Namibians to not only improve their careers but to apply for young professionals programmes so we put our country on the map, gain valuable experience in international relations and to ensure that we have more Namibians in different international organisations at all levels,” says the youthful Haudilu who is passionate about corporate governance and wishes to expand her experience in this field.
The applications for the UNESCO YPP 2015 opened to the public in April 2015. The YPP selection process is highly competitive and attracts increasing numbers of candidates every year. The 2015 intake was chosen from an initial pool of 907 candidates submitted by 86 National Commissions; 277 candidates were pre-screened against the eligibility criteria and educational requirements. These candidates were invited for an interview responding to questions dealing with substantive and technical skills, curriculum and motivation. After a thorough review, 81 candidates from 42 Member States were selected for a final interview.
YPP provides the opportunity to young university graduates and young qualified professionals from non- and under-represented Member States to join UNESCO at the early stage of their professional careers. UNESCO targets young professionals under the age of 32 with advanced degrees in education, culture, science, social and human sciences or communication, or in a field of direct relevance to the management and administration of an international organization.
Haludilu currently serves as a Manager of Finance and Administration at Namibian Nature Foundation. In January 2016, she became the first Namibian to be successfully selected to join UNESCO in the Education Sector via the YPP.
Haludilu holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Namibia (Unam). During her time at Unam she served as a Faculty Representative in 2005, was the first female Speaker of the Student Union Parliament in 2006 and Student Representative Council (SRC) Vice President in 2007. She later served as the Secretary for Social Welfare of the Namibian Student Association (NANSO) from 2008 to 2011. Haludilu also served as a member of the Education Forum at the regional level in her home village in the Oshana region from 2010 until 2014. She obtained a Masters of Administration Degree specialising in Corporate Governance and Ethics from the Regent Business School in Durban, South Africa in 2014 and is a registered Human Resource Associate, Generalist with the South African Board of People Practices (SABPP).