Read about Tamara Hamed

What brought you to a career in technology at the United Nations?

Working at the UN is a dream job for many global studies, and there’s no shortage of opportunities within the organization. The UN maintains nine distinct career paths, known as networks, each with its own hierarchies and areas of focus. Matching your skills and interests to one of these paths can help you tailor your education to your career goals and help you secure a highly sought UN position.

The UN is a family-friendly workplace, multicultural, and staff is entitled to flexible work arrangements and I am still constantly looking for technological innovations to improve existing work or to begin new projects. When I joined the United Nations in 2005, personal computers were just being introduced and the Internet was yet to be a mass market commodity. Since then using technology to open up the work of the Organization to as many audiences as possible has been my work and my passion.

Also, My work has allowed me to travel to over 10 countries where I have been given the opportunity to interact with other people and learn about their cultures, customs as well as living conditions I have discovered that wherever people live, they have aspirations for a better life for themselves and their families; in some places, it is tougher, but in other places, it is easier. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute my small part.

What has been your favorite IT project at the United Nations and what was your technical contribution?

I can work on any project with the United Nations but my favorite project now is to work in Europe as I worked in Africa for more than 10 years and in South America (Colombia mission) and I am I am technically cleared and rostered for the FS4 for the Information Systems Assistant and Information technology Assitant.

What advice would you give women interested in pursuing a field in technology?

Sure and I strongly encourage them to Join the UN and be part of the ICT team which rarely finds women working in this field. As most of my time working with the UN the females no were less than 5-10 % and most of the time I was the only woman in my section ( FTS, CITS, or IT ).

Also, I was proud to work with the UN and the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER). UNMEER, the first-ever UN emergency health mission, was established on 19 September 2014 and closed on 31 July 2015, having achieved its core objective of scaling up the response on the ground.

The Mission achieved its core objective of scaling up the response on the ground and establishing unity of purpose among responders in support of the nationally led efforts. As of 1 August, oversight of the UN system’s Ebola emergency response is led by the World Health Organization (WHO), under the direct authority of the WHO Director-General. UN agencies, funds and programs, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Mission in Liberia, and national and international partners have undertaken the necessary steps, to enable this seamless transition.