Session 5a: Working with the UN
What does it mean to work for the United Nations? This international institution is governed by key conventions and principles and those working with the United Nation face certain responsibilities. What are these special concerns? What do they entail and how do they affect the United Nations as an employer? Join Elizabeth McAllister, Deborah McWhinney, and Diana Rivington as they discuss these issues and many more: including the U.N.’s approaches to evaluation.
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Chair: Hunter McGill - University of Ottawa Hunter is an international development policy consultant, and Senior Fellow at the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa. His consulting practice focuses on good bilateral donor practice, aid effectiveness, and humanitarian assistance. He spent 30 years at the Canadian International Development Agency, and worked at the OECD for five years as Head of peer review and evaluation operations for the Development assistance Commitee (DAC). |
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Elizabeth McAllister - Mcleod Group Elizabeth McAllister has served in leadership positions in the international development community for over 25 years. From 1997 to 2005, she held a number of senior assignments at the World Bank including Director of the Operations Evaluation Department (OED), Director of External Affairs and United Nations Relations and Special Advisor to the Vice Presidency for East Asia and Pacific. Prior to joining the World Bank, Ms. McAllister held executive positions in the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). From 1985 to 1988, she was Counselor for Development in Jakarta, Indonesia. Currently, Ms McAllister enjoys an active practice in international development focuses on organizational strategy, results based management, evaluation management and gender analysis. Presentation (with Diana Rivington): Working With the UN System |
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Deborah McWhinney - Senior Consultant, Universalia Deborah has over 16 years of proven experience in international development program planning, management and evaluation with UNICEF, CIDA, the World Food Program, and CARE Canada. She has been directly involved in UN reform and aid effectiveness initiatives since 1997, including the development of UN Development Assistance Frameworks, joint programming documents for UN Theme Groups and Spanish-MDG Fund, Delivering as One strategies and coordination of technical working groups. She also has extensive facilitation and training expertise in human rights-based approaches, organizational assessments, results-based management and development evaluation. Her sectoral expertise includes child rights, HIV/AIDS, food aid, good governance, gender, and emergency/humanitarian response. She currently works as a Senior Consultant for Universalia. Presentation: Assessing the Effectiveness of Multilateral Organizations |
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Diana Rivington - former Director, Human Development and Gender Equality, CIDA Diana Rivington recently retired from CIDA as the Director, Human Development and Gender Equality. During her 2003 to 2007 posting to the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations, Diana sat on the Advisory Committee of UNIFEM and on the governing Bureau of UNICEF and was a key player in Canada’s successful involvement in the global effort that created UN Women. Diana has made significant contributions to international fora focused on women’s empowerment, including as Chair of the OECD Working Party on Gender Equality from 1998-2000. Diana served on the Canadian delegations to the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994 and to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. Presentation (with Elizabeth McAllister): Working With the UN System |