JPO Stories
10 Questions to a current JPO: Misheck Luhanga
Misheck Luhanga is a Malawian JPO funded by the Netherlands working on population and development with UNFPA in Nigeria.
1. Name
Misheck Luhanga
2. Duty Station
Abuja, Nigeria
3. Where are you from?
I am a national of Malawi, Africa. I come from the Northern part of the country; the part that borders the North Eastern part of Zambia.
4. What did you study?
I have a Master's Degree in Public Health specializing in Biostatistics and Epidemiology. In addition, my education had a sub-specialization in Monitoring and Evaluation of Population, Health and Nutrition Programmes. I also hold a first Degree in Statistics.
5. What were your pre-JPO professional experiences?
Before joining UNFPA as a JPO, I worked for a "Save the Children" child survival project in a rural district of Malawi mainly responsible for monitoring and evaluation of the projects' activities. After that I worked for a clinical trial research looking at the Prevention of Mother to Child transmission of HIV/AIDS in Malawi. My next post was that of a Data Manager for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Malawi. I was mainly responsible for the Monitoring and Evaluation of WFP's programmes in the country. The job entailed supporting and implementing partner's databases.
6. What do you do as a JPO?
I work as a Programme Officer in the Population and Development department of UNFPA Nigeria. My responsibilities include assisting in provision of technical assistance to government partners in the fields of population integration, reproductive health, gender and youth issues in development plans. This includes the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS), the Nigerian version of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP). I also assist in providing technical assistance to government partners in improving their capacity to coordinate, monitor and evaluate their population and development programmes. During the first year of my JPO assignment I was also the focal point for youth in the UNFPA Nigeria Country Office. I ensured that young people are taken along and are empowered to participate in development issues in the country.
7. Five random words that come to your mind about your first year as a JPO?
Assisting; learning; support; security; results based
8. What has been the most challenging situation from a personal point of view?
There are so many cultural differences between my country of origin, Malawi, and Nigeria, where my duty station is, and this required some time for me to adjust to. I have come to appreciate cultural sensitivity in programming more than ever before.
9. Future steps?
I am very much interested in working within the UN system. If it is not possible for me to be retained in the system, my second option is to enrol for a PhD or a second Master's Degree so as to increase my changes of coming back to the UN.
10. Words of advice to future JPOs?
Take initiatives and be seen to be active. Do not worry about the term Junior in your title. There is nothing in the name apart from it being an identifier. What is central to an enjoyable JPO-ship is a good working relationship with other staff members.
