Satoko Nakagawa (‘91 Japan), Information Manager, ReliefWeb, Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations, New York City

(Presented as part of the panel "In the Company of Peacemakers: Pursuing Peace After a Kroc M.A." at Fr. Ted, Man of Peace, Sept. 30, 2000)

Since I left Notre Dame, I have worked in a variety of fields that share a common goal: contribution to peacebuilding and peacemaking at large. These fields include promoting the rights of indigenous peoples, women and minorities, economic and social development and humanitarian relief coordination. I have worked in these fields as a member of grass roots non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as a staff member of a UN specialized agency and as a staff member of the United Nations Secretariat.

Throughout these changes in my work, the one constant is the encouragement I receive when my friends and colleagues tell me about their work and their commitment, helping me to see beyond my immediate tasks and not to lose sight of the larger picture. I firmly believe that this sense of community, or shared dedication, is one of the strongest legacies of the Kroc Institute.

Following my graduation from the M.A. Program in peace studies, I returned to Japan and joined a small international human rights NGO formed by human rights activists and scholars from different countries called the International Movement against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism. My position was not a particularly glamorous one. I began by clipping newspaper articles and stuffing envelopes, but later took on responsibility for editing newsletters and serving as an interpreter for Japanese delegates at international conferences and fact-finding missions. During my tenure there, I was able to observe how a small start-up NGO can grow through networking with others who are asserting their human rights. I also learned how important it is for people who are affected by racism, discrimination or other forms of oppression to know what their human rights are and what actions they can take under the international human rights and other international instruments. The organization that I worked for did much in this respect, informing indigenous peoples and minority organizations in remote places in Asia and advising them how to get involved in the international human rights processes. I am very proud to have been part of their work in this regard.

I moved back to the US after my marriage. Shortly thereafter, I landed an internship with the UN Center for Human Rights. There I assisted in preparations for a session of the Human Rights Committee. During these sessions, U.N.-appointed experts examine periodic national human rights reports on the compliance of member states with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. I also responded to numerous public inquiries on UN human rights activities and individual requests for assistance in combating alleged human rights violations. It was quite overwhelming to receive so many requests on the phone and in writing from people who sought assistance from the UN in getting justice done. This experience stimulated my interest in working in the UN system.

I joined the International Labor Office in Geneva shortly after completing my internship at the UN Center for Human Rights. The ILO is the oldest UN specialized agency concerned with workers' rights. It has a unique tripartite representation, involving governments, trade unions and employers' organizations. I went there as an "Associate Expert," a sort of trainee within the UN system whose training is financed by major donor countries, thus giving young professionals the opportunity to work within the UN system. I was assigned to a program established to make certain that gender concerns were adequately reflected in every aspect of the organization's work – so called "gender mainstreaming."

It was a big challenge for the program to implement gender mainstreaming, because it meant a change of culture within an organization full of staff members from diverse cultural backgrounds. I learned that it is not easy to bring about a change in values and attitudes – not even in the values and attitudes of those whose job is to promote changes in values and attitudes. I also assisted in organizing the ILO's follow up to the Fourth World Conference for Women in Beijing, a program called "More and Better Jobs for Women." It was a very valuable opportunity for me to learn about the work of the international organization's secretariat in drafting project proposals, raising and disbursing funds, monitoring the progress of the implementation and reporting back to donors.

I must confess to you, however, that during my time in Geneva, I experienced a certain degree of disillusionment about working as an international bureaucrat. I came to feel that some of the criticisms that one frequently hears of international organizations, such as inefficiency and careerism were, to say the least, not entirely lacking in factual basis. I left Geneva feeling somewhat defeated. I almost decided to get an MBA on my return to the US, thinking that I needed to learn how to run an organization efficiently, without wasting resources, and delivering products and services as promised. I was even thinking of working in the corporate sector, as at that time I felt that at least private corporations were more forthcoming about their raison d'etre -- the maximization of profits.

But somehow, after considerable reflection, I decided that I was not ready to give up on the UN. The path that I had taken when I came to the peace program convinced me that one can make a difference and contribute to peace whatever the capacity one assumes in a given moment. I decided to try again, this time by making small changes from within the organization.

Around that time, I received a notice from the UN secretariat that I had passed the recruitment examination and was offered a job at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). OCHA helps enable operational relief agencies to do their work in a coordinated and cohesive way. We also bring to the attention of member states and the public emerging and all-too-often overlooked issues in the humanitarian field, such as the treatment of internally displaced populations, the protection of civilians in armed conflicts, and the under-funding of some of the longstanding complex emergencies like Afghanistan.

I now work as Information Manager for a humanitarian information web site called ReliefWeb. You can see it at www.reliefweb.int. ReliefWeb was conceived to support decision-makers in making informed decisions regarding humanitarian aid through real time access to the latest information on needs and resources, and on who is doing what and where. We post information from more than 300 sources we believe to be reliable, up to 15 hours a day, from project teams in Geneva and New York. At the moment, we are covering 18 complex emergencies and about 20 natural disasters. We also host a collection of a few hundred maps that can be used for evaluation, planning and briefing.

My job is to update the web site with appropriate information every day by soliciting information from field offices and NGOs and to select featured documents to draw attention to important developments, under-appreciated needs and situations. I am lucky to be involved in OCHA at a time when UN relief operations are moving beyond what they used to be, as we have seen in Kosovo and East Timor. There is an increasing awareness that timely and accurate information is one of the keys to an effective, coordinated and efficient response to humanitarian crises. I feel happy to be part of this relatively new initiative, using the latest technology, trying to improve the efficiency of the work of the UN.

Today, I feel as overwhelmed as I was on the day I first arrived on this campus -- overwhelmed by the enormity and complexity of the work that lies ahead to achieve a peace worthy of the name. But when I am feeling too overwhelmed, and despair of achieving success, I remember my days at Notre Dame and the friends I made while I was here, and those memories and that community renew my strength and enable me to carry on. Father Hesburgh, I want to thank you again for your part in creating the Peace Institute and Peace House. If not for the generous academic, financial and moral support that the Program has been offering to students from around the globe, many of us would no doubt have had difficulty devoting ourselves to working for peace and justice. I certainly would not have taken the path that brought me here today without that support.

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