Diplomacy Students’ Professional Development Visit to the United Nations

by Vera Dimoplon

On 8 December 2017, a group of undergraduate and graduate students participated in a Professional Development visit to the United Nations. This event was organized by adjunct professor Hugh Dugan, who is also a Fellow in the Center for UN and Global Governance Studies, Seton Hall University School of Diplomacy and International Relations. Professor Dugan served in the U.S. Diplomatic Corps from 1983 to mid 2015 as senior adviser to eleven US Permanent Representatives to the United Nations and as U.S. Delegate to the United Nations.  Since 1989 he worked among the UN’s 193 Member States and its Secretariat in New York and Geneva.  He managed a broad range of matters enabling effective, strategic US participation at the United Nations. Hugh Dugan was recently named Seton Hall School of Diplomacy’s first Director of UN Engagement.

At 9:00 a.m. the group was briefed by Troy Wolfe, the United Nations Foundation office for the first meeting. Troy Wolfe is a Senior Director of the United Nations Association of the United States of America Education Programs and Learning. Mr. Wolfe spoke about the ways the UNA-USA engages with communities and promotes UN values. He invited students to participate in the annual Global Engagement Summit, which will take place in February 2018 in UN Headquarters. He shared that this year’s agenda will include discussion on such topics as climate change, peace and security, role of private sector in achieving the SDGs, and refugee crisis. Mr. Wolfe also spoke about two other programs that youth can engage through: Congressional Learning Trips and the World Federation of the United Nations Associations.  The students were able to ask questions about the UN’s relevance and effectiveness and the UN Foundation’s role in addressing the need for UN vitality. Learn more about the UNA-USA and their global role here.

At 10:30 a.m., our group visited the UN Secretariat and had a meeting with a representative from the UN’s Office of Counter-Terrorism. UN official Valerie Mello provided a look into the daily life of a UN Secretariat staffer and discussed the ways the UN has tooled itself to address terrorism. She shared her own experience of being a part of the UN Secretariat and the Counter-Terrorism team. Students had a chance to ask her questions regarding UN experience, her career path and her perspectives on the ways youth can transition into a UN career upon graduation.

At 12:00 p.m., the students attended the UN’s noon briefing delivered by Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric. Mr. Dujarric had previously served as Spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan from 2005 to 2006 and then as Deputy Communications Director for United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon from 2006 to 2007.  Just prior to his current appointment, Mr. Dujarric was the Director of News and Media for the United Nations Department of Public Information and previously– Director of Communications for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  The UN’s noon briefing was dedicated to the tragic events in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a group of UN peacekeepers from Tanzania were attacked and killed by militant extremists. Ian Sinclair, the Director of the UN Operations and Crisis Center and Jean-Pierre Lacroix, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations spoke at the briefing and provided details of this tragic event. Watch their report here. After the briefing, the students were invited to join Mr. Stephane Dujarric in a private meeting and ask him questions about current affairs, challenges in communicating complicated messages of a highly political nature, and the future image of the UN.

Such professional development event allows students to emerge into the life of the United Nations and experience it from a perspective of a UN employee. It also promotes students’ engagement in the United Nations and allows them to establish professional connections, which they will use in their future career. Students of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University are thankful to Professor Hugh Dugan for providing them with such a unique learning experience and the opportunity for professional growth.