TheJourneyVolume1 - Book - Page 91
mistakes. Make a lot of mistakes, but don’t make the
same mistake twice. We sometimes forget that we are
working in international development, which means
that we are working to help societies to find new ways of
developing. And development is not a straightforward
highway, it is about understanding societies in different
ways, it is about learning, experimenting, putting the
people we serve at the forefront, negotiating, navigating,
and making mistakes, while always making sure to learn
from them.
U N I T E D N AT I O N S D E V E L O P M E N T P R O G R A M M E
UNDP IN NIGERIA
In Nigeria, I am very proud of the team we have. I am
proud that we are sitting at the table of the highest levels
of policy dialogue. We work closely together with the
Offices of the President, the Vice-President, the finance
minister, and several other key actors in the country.
The work of UNDP in Nigeria is taken very seriously,
and I am proud that we are the leading voice of the
development community in the country.
I am proud that we are working on issues that really
matter. For example: how the economic system can
work for everybody; how youth unemployment can be
minimized; working on solutions to resolve insurgency
and security issues in the northeast. Resolving these
issues will strengthen our impact. We have been able to
convince government, at both local and national level, to
listen, to work with us, and to finance our work.
We are still far away from where we need to be, but we
are building a foundation for the next Resident Representative and the next Country Office team who will take
our work to an even higher level.
I might not be here to see the day when UNDP does
all the work we need to be doing – but I can build the
foundation for that to come into fruition one day. n
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