Three Snippets 1998-2021 : Lou Mendez

by Lou Mendez

Inter-Agency Secondment

After multiple UNICEF postings, a minority of staff were asked to represent the mother organization on the battlefields of UN Reform. In my case, being seconded to the UN Secretariat and UNDG in 1998 proved to be an adventure out of the ordinary.

Working at the Secretariat monolith is challenging. Pace is painfully slow… very slow like running mud. Results are always downplayed by others for fear of success or escaping peer criticism. A senior colleague told me that “it’s not the results, young man (I was 46 then!!), it’s the perception of the process”.

I do remember one inter-divisional meeting of D2s, on how to facilitate a future One IT Centre for all UN agencies. Unfortunately, after the introductions, the discussions focussed more on one person’s equestrian abilities and noble lineage than the subject on hand. Given the current move of UNICEF IT to Valencia (Spain) joining the UN Secretariat and DPKO IT Divisions, it would probably have been easier to start with an exotic geographic location.

Did I mention that that Mr. Equestrian of Noble Lineage – later promoted to ASG - dutifully represented his agency by providing reasons why centralization should be avoided?

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The BCU

Upon return to UNICEF from inter-agency secondment, all bright-eyed and beaming with optimism, I was asked to start a global initiative called “Business Continuity”, in 2006. I asked what BC was and my supervisor told me that it was an Executive Board idea. Peers in Programme and Operations provided lengthy orations on their assumptions. I did my research on where to find a working example; eventually the Asian Development Bank put me through a crash course. ADB invested $100 + million on their preparedness, UNICEF provided a budget of $17+ million or so (no accurate amount was ever pegged).

Regional training was essential. There were envious peers who labelled us the BCU - Business Class Unit, except when they were invited as Resource Persons. In one event, the Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa requested trainer attires to mark Ethiopian culture. See photo.

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Doing my thing, from 2010

I decided to take early retirement at 55 and start my own firm. In 2013, super typhoon Haiyan hit central Philippines – leaving a trail of destruction never yet seen in the country. UNICEF knocked and asked us to provide operational surge support. A chance to be onsite, working out of the office, avoiding OCHA meetings which seemed to happen every hour, meeting the affected populace, and being with my compatriots as they continued to retain their sense of humour even in such a calamitous situation.

We donned the standard UNICEF vests; with enough pockets you could store plumpy nuts for a year, but only one loop for pinched hotel pens. Laundry services were limited, thus one relied on the 6pm sunset volley of used UN t-shirts being thrown to the children outside the walls. Maybe not very politically acceptable nowadays.

One day, I was in drastic need for a haircut and found this barber shop – a vivid example of national resilience.

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