For the past weeks I have been working for the United Nations as an intern to support the develop a 3-day workshop focused on Avian Human Influenza (AHI). The UN's role in the systemic prepraredness of Asian and Pacific nations serves both in advance and in the event of a pandemic. My role is primarily administrative in the development of materials and functional execution of the workshop, but has given me the opportunity to see the UN from the inside. I am located at the UN building for East Asia and the Pacific Region (UNESCAP). It is an incredibly huge complex of different buildings and government offices. UNESCAP was "established in Shanghai, China in 1947 and has 62 members; has the longest track record of any institution in identifying and analyzing economic and social trends in Asia and the Pacific; established the Asian Development Bank (1966), Mekong River Commission (1995) and Asia-Pacific Centre for Agricultural Machinery (2002); is the biggest of the UN's five regional commissions in terms of population served and area covered; advocates for greater private sector involvement in infrastructure development; assists in modernizing Asian highways and railways under the Asian Land Transport Infrastructure Development Programme; provides technical assistance to pacific island countries through its Pacific Operations Centre based in Suva, Fiji; and monitors progress of, and provides advice to, countries pursuing the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG's)." (Background sheet on UNESCAP)
A short briefing I recieved on Avian Human Influenza:
"Since 2003, a devastating epidemic of avian-or bird-influenza caused by the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus, has predominately affected poultry flocks in East Asia-particularly in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and China. It has now spread throughout the world and has already had severe consequences on the economies of affected countries and on poor farmers' livelihoods.
This avian influenza virus has already infected 313 people (killing 191 or 61% of those infected) but so far, has not yet developed the ability to transmit easily from person to person. In many respects, however, conditions are ripe for a pandemic of human influenza.
The UN System created the office of the UN System Influenza Coordination (UNSIC) within the UN Development Group to help ensure that the UN system responds to national, regional and global challenges in relation to influenza. The primary purpose of this office is to ensure cooperation and coordination between the UN and support for the range of different initiatives underway now to address the avian flu epidemic and the threat of a human pandemic."
I have learned a ton these past few weeks, mostly for questions related to "how" and process. I am pleased to get that level of awareness and perhaps am starting to learn the difference between tasks as forms of content and management as forms of process. There are still so many other levels I wish I had time to learn. "How" still and will never reach "why." and its kindof frustrating in a good way... it makes me feel like there is a lot more I can learn!
A short briefing I recieved on Avian Human Influenza:
"Since 2003, a devastating epidemic of avian-or bird-influenza caused by the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus, has predominately affected poultry flocks in East Asia-particularly in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and China. It has now spread throughout the world and has already had severe consequences on the economies of affected countries and on poor farmers' livelihoods.
This avian influenza virus has already infected 313 people (killing 191 or 61% of those infected) but so far, has not yet developed the ability to transmit easily from person to person. In many respects, however, conditions are ripe for a pandemic of human influenza.
The UN System created the office of the UN System Influenza Coordination (UNSIC) within the UN Development Group to help ensure that the UN system responds to national, regional and global challenges in relation to influenza. The primary purpose of this office is to ensure cooperation and coordination between the UN and support for the range of different initiatives underway now to address the avian flu epidemic and the threat of a human pandemic."
I have learned a ton these past few weeks, mostly for questions related to "how" and process. I am pleased to get that level of awareness and perhaps am starting to learn the difference between tasks as forms of content and management as forms of process. There are still so many other levels I wish I had time to learn. "How" still and will never reach "why." and its kindof frustrating in a good way... it makes me feel like there is a lot more I can learn!
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