TheJourneyVolume1 - Book - Page 52
#NextGenUNDP
Tjark Marten Egenhoff
Coun tr y o f O r igin :
UNDP Co u n t r y O f f ic e :
Date o f Ap po in tm e n t :
GERMANY
G UI N E A- BI S SAU
M AY 2 019
“MY LIFE HAS BEEN A CONSTANT
JOURNEY OF TRYING TO BE
COURAGEOUS AND A FORCE
FOR CHANGE.”
I
associate my earliest memories with my senses. To this
day, Iranian food smells like home. I am aware of how
privileged I am to have lived on different continents
and been exposed to different realities throughout my
upbringing. However, this past is not of my own doing,
but it certainly did ignite my curiosity for discoveries and
a world that is there to be explored. Reinventing myself
through the vast experiences and encounters with other
human beings and nature have allowed for new perspectives on life. From my early days, I also learned to always
be curious and open to the pleasant and sometimes
unpleasant surprises of life.
Growing up I was seldomly asked if I wanted to move
to another country, leaving behind the friends and
places that had grown on me. I had to adapt to new and
unknown places and acknowledge my inner excitement
while also neglecting the toll of not knowing for quite
some time how to define “home.” To this day, I am very
bad at parting and worse at saying goodbye.
At the same time, I was continuously made aware of
the impact that politics and societal choices can have
on people. Be it countries struggling to find their path,
recurrent hardships, or close friends struggling to
maintain their livelihoods.
This upbringing made me want to learn and listen
more, as well as to understand better, in order to act upon
the injustices, I witnessed. Through my own personal
experience, I realized that the language of human struggle
is universal.
At home, open debates on political and global issues
were always part of dinnertime conversations. The world
as a normative aspiration was ubiquitously present.
When I decided to write my first thesis on the prospects
for the economic and political integration of the Mercosur
countries, I realized I had found a topic that combined
both. An already complex puzzle of state interests and
economic development, and a normative calling of how
to overcome nationalism.
EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
After my first degree, I decided to deepen my understanding of how to achieve better cooperation among
states rooted in common values and aspirations. This
led me to European studies and ultimately to work for
the European Union in both Brussels and Latin America.
Many years later and with the baggage of having
seen how the effects of transnational organized crime
undermine statehood, I decided to go back to academia
for a mid-career Master’s in International Relations and
Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
in Boston. This helped me to reflect upon my work and
equip myself with new tools and a renewed perspective
on how to positively contribute to change through transformative leadership.
While serving in various positions, I always wondered
why there is such little permeability between the public
and private sectors. The fact that we talk about each
other rather than with each other, intrigued me. This
led me to change from being the Chief of Staff for the
President of a German political foundation to accepting
a radically different role in private banking making sure
that geopolitical cyber threats to the financial system
were detected early on. Seeing the world through
another lens was formative, and it has helped me in my ›
Change comes at a price,
and I believe that both UNDP and
the host countries are striving for
better and more reflective
approaches to development.”
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