TheJourneyVolume1 - Book - Page 88
#NextGenUNDP
Mohamed Yahya
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 :
SOMALIA
NIGERIA
J UN E 2 02 0
“DEVELOPMENT IS ABOUT
UNDERSTANDING SOCIETIES AND
PUTTING THE PEOPLE WE SERVE
AT THE FOREFRONT.”
I
was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, but I grew up in
Malindi, a small coastal town in Kenya, where I spent
the majority of my childhood as a regular Swahili
coastal boy playing football, swimming in the ocean,
and roaming around the neighborhood enjoying fresh
seafood with family and friends.
Malindi is a town rich in diversity. From different
languages to ethnicities and religions. I was constantly
surrounded by people and cultures that were different to
mine.
My primary school was teeming with people of different
colors, languages, and style, representing the rich history
of the region. Swahili, Giryama, Somali, Gujarati, and
Arabic, were among the languages that peacefully
coexisted from school corridors to the open-air markets.
Having this kind of exposure from an early age instilled in
me a lifelong defence against conscious prejudice, while
at the same time the environment also prepared me to
learn and be enriched by it.
EARLY CHALLENGES
Attending school in the periphery of the country
presented many challenges. Often, we had to learn
a lot in the abstract. There were no labs or sufficient
textbooks to use, which made learning an exercise of
cramming.
But my attitude towards school really changed when I
moved to the United Kingdom as a teenager. In the UK,
I was able to choose subjects based on my interests,
and we had access to more resources and opportunities to connect us with what we were learning. For
the first time, education became fun, and the promise
of finding something I would want to explore for my
career became greater.
HOW DID I GET HERE?
I am the first in my family to have a university degree.
Considering where I started from, I see the notion of
“challenge” through a different lens than most. My
personal experiences have really given me a positive
attitude to challenges on both professional and personal
fronts. I always ask myself, “How did I get here?” For me,
therefore, challenges become opportunities we can hike
over. If I did have to mention a challenge that stands out
in my journey, it would be moving to the UK alone, as an
unaccompanied teenager. Everything was alien – from
the lifts and trains, to living with foster parents, and even
diversifying my palate. No matter how new or strange,
looking back now, these were all enriching experiences.
But it wasn’t until later, when I finished my undergraduate studies, that I knew I wanted to work in international
development. After one month working in the private
sector, I knew that it wasn’t for me. I didn’t find it exciting,
nor could I connect with the work I was doing. After
exploring a few other opportunities, I ran into a friend from
university who recommended me to join a peacebuilding
Non-Governmental Organisation. At the time, I wasn’t
even sure what this work entailed, but I decided to take a
chance and try it anyway. It was from this first experience
that I found my passion for the politics of development –
meeting people, sitting down with them, trying to bridge
differences, and essentially finding solutions. The political
side of development and the idea of finding a common ›
In Nigeria we work
closely together with the Offices
of the President, the VicePresident, the Finance Minister,
and several other key actors
in the country.”
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