united nations advanced certificate faculty - Long Island University

AT MEDICINS SANS FRONTIERES
Thanda
My internship at MSF-UN Liaison Office, from June 1998
to May 1999, exposed me to both NGOs and the UN. The
internship complemented what I had learned in LIU’s
International Humanitarian Assistance class. As an intern, I
assisted Catherine Dumait-Harper, MSF Representative to
the United Nations, to liaise with the UN, with Member
States and other NGOs.
I helped Ms. Dumait-Harper prepare for briefings, conferences, roundtables and panel discussions.
I attended UN-NGO meetings and informed MSF headquarters and field staff of UN
humanitarian activities. I updated contact lists in database and e-mail. I drafted memos and daily
correspondence, and coordinated meetings between MSF staff and UN officials. I organized and
kept records on MSF country missions and thematic issues. I attended MSF briefings and debriefings
of MSF doctors and nurses. In short, I helped facilitate MSF advocacy efforts involving the
United Nations, Member States and especially the donors, and NGOs.
AT THE UN DPI/NGO SECTION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
PUBLIC INFORMATION
Lisa Matos
The DPI/NGO Section has two different offices inside the
UN where different work is done. The chief of the section,
Paul Hoeffel, wanted the interns to have an opportunity to
work in both the Resource Center and the 10 th floor office.
From September to mid-October, I worked on the 10 th floor
and helped organize the daylong DPI/NGO
Communications Workshop, which was held at the end of
November. The following six weeks I spent in the NGO/DPI
Resource Center.
I helped put the Communications Workshop program together and attended planning meetings
with the workshop speakers. The following six weeks I spent in the NGO/DPI Resource Center
where I also helped with the NGO accreditation process, sending out information, organizing the
files, etc. In working with the DPI, I acquired a different perspective on how international civil
society envisages the UN.
The DPI/NGO Section staff was my family during the time I was in New York for the internship.
New York can be a very intimidating city, but I always felt protected and taken care of by them.
They made me want to come back to New York and to the UN. The following year, Fall 2001, I
started the UN graduate studies program at Long Island University.
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