JPO Stories
Questions to Wessam Ghazi Faridi
Wessam Ghazi Faridi is one of the first three JPOs sponsored by Saudi Arabia. He is currently assigned to the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre.
Name
Wessam Ghazi Faridi
Duty Station
UNDP Oslo Governance Centre, which is part of the Bureau for Development Policy (BDP)
What is your background?
A national of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I graduated in 2001 from the College of Engineering with a specialisation in engineering management. My professional interest and skills include engineering management, inclusive of planning, implementing and operating engineering facilities and project management policy, evaluation and quality management.
I joined UNDP Saudi Arabia in 2003 as a Programme Associate, working on identifying new partnership opportunities with the development stakeholders, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the projects including the required budget revisions and setting the projects' delivery targets. A year after, I was promoted to Operations Manager, carrying out the overall responsibilities of the Operations Section which included the units of finance, procurement, administration, personnel and electronic automation network.
What do you do as a JPO?
I joined the JPO programme in March 2006 as the Special Assistant to the Director of the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre (OGC). As a JPO, my main responsibilities for this post are coordination, fundraising, partnerships and communication.
Coordination, I Assist the Director of the OGC in his coordination function in facilitating team work with respect to policy advice, research, partnership development, advocacy and outreach, monitoring and reporting.
Fund-raising: I assist the Director and the International Advisors [as a team as well as individually] in the development of project proposals and project documents that can be used to broaden and strengthen the funding base of the OGC.
Partnerships: I assist the Director and the International Advisors in establishing new links and strengthening existing partnerships with governments and research institutions with a global remit to provide high-quality policy analysis that can strengthen UNDP governance programmes.
Communication: I coordinate the OGC advocacy and outreach activities, including monitoring of the implementation of the new OGC communication strategy involving the development and distribution of monthly updates, quarterly newsletters, updating of website and other publications.
Five random words that come to your head about your first year as a JPO
Inspiring, Stimulating, Accountability, Challenging, Exciting.
What has been the most challenging situation from a personal point of view?
I think the culture change, when I first moved to Norway, was the most personal challenge encountered as I had no individual experience with Scandinavia before. However I felt very welcomed.
Future steps?
I have been fortunate to work for an organization that cares about people's livelihood and development and I wish to continue to be part of this organization and contribute to UNDP's mandate.
Words of advice to future JPOs?
The JPO Programme is definitely a rewarding yet challenging programme. As new comers to the UN System, it is important for JPOs to have a mentor from the very beginning of their assignment, especially if they never worked for the UN before.
JPOs should also approach their assignment in a proactive way. Many knowledge products and resources are available on the UN/UNDP websites and JPOs should take every opportunity to strengthen their knowledge using them, for instance the Orientation to UNDP. Newly recruited staff can also learn about UNDP, its practices, structure and management through UNDP for Beginners.
