JPO Stories
Jason Pronyk joins Operations Support Group
Published in UNDP Bulletin, July 2004
Vitals:
"Born in Winnipeg, Canada, the second of three boys. My roots lie somewhere
between Berlin and Moscow. My mother came to Canada after World War
II, only to be quickly labeled a DP (‘displaced person’)
by classmates; a young girl of German descendents who were originally
settled in Western Russia by Catherine the Great. She married a first
generation Canadian of Polish-Ukrainian descent. My immediate family
has since expanded, giving the first day of spring special meaning.
My Argentine wife and I were married on September 21, 2002 in Buenos
Aires, Argentina."
Coming from:
"I am returning to UNDP after an extensive recovery period following
the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad. We are now approaching
the first anniversary of that incident (19 August). I was in the building
at the time of the bombing, jointly coordinating the UN-World Bank Needs
Assessment exercise, together with colleagues from the UN Development
Group, among others."
Going to:
"I arrived in New York very recently to take up a post with the UNDP
Operations Support Group. OSG contributes to measuring development effectiveness
and to supporting in part the implementation of the Administrator’s
Business Plans and UNDP’s Multi-Year Funding Framework 2004-2007
(MYFF), among other things."
Backstory:
"I worked for various local, national and international development organizations for close to a
decade before joining UNDP. In the early 1990s, I was part of a small team that established a
non-profit organization in my city. We designed, implemented and executed rehabilitation programme
s for young offenders. Kids were given a choice at the time of sentencing to attend our programme
for three months or to go to jail for one year. Shortly after, I worked with Sudanese refugees
exiled in Uganda for an extended period, not far from the Sudan-DRC border. After completing my
MPhil in Development Studies at Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford in 2000, I joined UNDP
Afghanistan as a JPO, remaining in Afghanistan to witness the sunset period of the Taliban and dawn of
the Afghan Transitional Authority and Interim Administration. I subsequently worked with the Development
Group Office and UNDP Turkey prior to joining the Office of the D-SRSG, Baghdad."
Crowning glory:
"Together with a small team and in conjunction with a nascent Sudanese
leadership, we took full advantage of a gift of 45,000 hectares of largely
arable land given to the UN by the Ugandan government. With multiple
counterparts, we implemented a multi-sector refugee settlement, designed
to be self-sustaining and decongest overpopulated refugee camps at the
base of the Nile. The intention was for communities to be self-sufficient
after four harvest seasons, thereby no longer dependent on international
aid. The settlement started at zero and grew to a population of 50,000
in a matter of three years, supported by health, sanitation and education
infrastructure with employment generation and related development interventions,
including moving produce to market."
Last great book read:
"The five-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong’s biography,
Every Second Counts, is a profound and inspiring story of overcoming
great personal challenges. Armstrong narrates how he overcame his battle
with cancer to return to the apex of his sports career. This was an
inspiring story of personal endurance. I just started reading Emergency
Sex and other Desperate Measures (Miramax, 2004), written by UN colleagues
coping through the tremors of tumultuous conflict situations of the
1990s, including Cambodia, Haiti, Somalia, Rwanda and Bosnia. It is
a book written in the tradition of Graham Hancock (Lords of Poverty),
Philip Gourevitch (We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed
With Our Families) and Tim Cahill (Pecked to Death by Ducks). Authors
Postlewait, Cain and Thompson reveal the intersection where the rawness
of the human spirit meets the optimism of the relief-development nexus.
The sometimes unfinished edges of commitment and perseverance in an
unfavorable environment are naturally exposed."
Behind the suit:
"In 2002 I ran the NYC Marathon. I enjoy outdoor activities like trekking,
climbing and various water sports. In the early 1990s, while working
with a reintegration programme for young offenders (an Outward Bound-derived
programme), I spent 200 nights outdoors in Canada in one year –
an unusual feat even by Canadian standards. My urban hobbies include
reading, writing and, at present, simply reabsorbing the energy of New
York City."
Administrator for a day:
"As Administrator for a day I would launch an aggressive global campaign
to mobilize support behind MDG 8, including finding a means to ensure
countries make 0.7% of their GNP available for global development. Examples
range from simple phone-a-thons to an ‘ODA mirror campaign’
where countries match – dollar for dollar – ODA against
military spending. This could be catalytic for the international community
to achieve MDGs by 2015. Needless to say, policy measures need to be
complementary."
Why it's all worth it:
"This is a privileged environment to work in. Not only are you surrounded
by different people and cultures, you are also challenged to actively
engage a host of fascinating issues. This alone is inspiring."
