I said I’ve always been a public person. Really? Well I said it spontaneously as I decided to vlog about the great conference we had today.
It was a webinar, sponsored by the Women’s Federation for World Peace, UN Office Vienna, Austria. The event was a side event to the Crime Commission on Criminal Justice taking place this week in Vienna at UN Headquarters.
Now you may know that I worked at the UN Vienna at the IAEA for ten years from 2009 to 2019. Before that I was the NGO representative for WFWPI and became the secretary of the Drugs Committee in 2008. I stepped down once I became an international civil servant and am now slowly returning to public activity for the NGO. I considered it a bit of a conflict of interest to be actively involved in my NGO while doing paid work at the UN.
This could be a matter of opinion or worthy of discussion. It was the decision I made at the time, after being involved in the Beyond 2008 Conference of the Drugs Committee. I was so proud of organizing the conference where we invited the Member States to participate as guests and observers while the NGO representatives were the registered delegates. Quite the opposite of what usually happens in the UN conference rooms.
I remember filming the press conference with my son’s digital camera and stitching the short clips together to publish a video. The current Drugs committee secretary was more than impressed. Is that why she asked me to follow in her footsteps?
Shortly afterwards I was giving the presentation on behalf of the WFWPI in the same conference room.
Today it was all virtual with our webinar.
Please watch it. I still want to edit the recording and post it to YouTube, but you can watch the recording which I live-streamed to FaceBook on WFWP Europe – Women’s Federation for World Peace.
I especially loved the ending after the official close, when the Government representatives were asked how can civil society organizations cooperate with government?
I saw a beautiful contribution to interdependence, cooperation and universal values.
I’m getting excited as I anticipate what is still ahead.
I’m going to get into editing videos with an actual editing program.
I’m getting fitter and healthier and producing good vibes which can multiply and inspire others.
Yes, I am becoming that public person who somehow I’ve always thought I was, even while hiding behind my various roles.