Read about Petra Atah Mih
PETRA ATAH MIH
Telecommunications Technician
United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara
What brought you to a career in technology at the United Nations?
After graduating as a Telecommunications Engineer, I worked for RascomStar for ten years providing telecommunications services to remote zones in different countries in Africa. During one of my missions, I came in contact with some UN staff and my interaction with them was a great inspiration for me. I wanted to use my talents and experience to reach out to others in a larger scale, to touch lives and contribute in any way that could make humanity better and there could be no other way to achieve this than through the United Nations. My dream was achieved in 2018 when I joined the UN as UNV Information Systems Assistant. I wanted to do more and today I am doing just what I love to do: Use technology to impact the lives.
What has been your favorite IT project at the United Nations and what was your technical contribution?
My favourite project has been the Migration of Satellite links from one satellite to another for all MINURSO team sites in Western Sahara. I travel to all team sites to ensure that satellite earth station antennas are correctly aligned, and parameters configured correctly for efficient and effective service delivery on these sites. A stable network connectivity for sites deep in the desert makes all the difference.
What advice would you give women interested in pursuing a field in technology?
Go for your dreams and put in your best to achieve the dream. Be unstoppable!