Special Advisor, Women Leading for Livelihoods UNHCR
Whilst working as a Special Advisor to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Gry Tina Tinde had an idea to develop skills and business opportunities for refugee women, funded and guided by executive and philanthropic women worldwide. That idea developed into what is now the UNHCR's Women Leading for Livelihoods (WLL) initiative. Tina leads the external relations and networking aspects of WLL, while livelihood projects are generated by refugees, UNHCR and partner staff around the world.
Tina's career with the UN started in 1989, with the UN Department of Public Information in New York. She was recruited via the national competitive exam in social development and joined the NGO Section, then the Human Rights and Development Section. She worked six years with the UN in New York and Cambodia and one year with the UNHCR in the former Yugoslavia. While researching her anthropology thesis in Cambodia in 1993 on women who returned home after several years in camps in Thailand, Tina's passion for the women's cause was ignited. Before re-joining UNHCR in 2004, Tina worked as: Senior Advisor at the Council of the Baltic Sea States in Stockholm; Advisor at the Norwegian Defence Ministry; and researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI).
Tina has a master's degree in anthropology and journalism from the University of Montana, USA, a Diploma in Advanced European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, and a BA in political science, French and German from the University of Oslo, Norway. Tina speaks five languages and is learning her sixth: Russian. She lives in Geneva, Switzerland with her daughter (14) and son (8).
ExpatWomen's Interview with Tina
ExpatWomen: Tina, please share with us more about the Women Leading for Livelihoods (WLL) program.
Tina: Thank you very much, Andrea, for inviting WLL to forge bonds between your readers and refugee women through your wonderful ExpatWomen forum, which I just love. Your combination of stories on women's leadership, personal challenges of international life and your focus on women as change- makers is dynamite.
Firstly, WLL is a tool that enables UNHCR offices and refugee women to execute livelihood projects that otherwise might not have seen the light of day.
To date, the UNHCR, partners and refugee women have created 28 livelihoods projects in a dozen countries with large refugee populations. They are very diverse, covering innovative farming, computer training, small business set-ups and sewing workshops and more. Six are up and running with funding from Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan and thanks to private donors in Japan (Soroptimists) and Australia, five more have received pledges and the rest are still seeking funding. Project costs range from US$25,000 to US$150,000. All donations go straight to the projects, except for 10 percent for WLL awareness activities.
Secondly, WLL endeavors to change how we work with women of concern, by focusing on self-reliance as opposed to the more usual ‘care and maintenance' that can keep people trapped and passive for years. To WLL, women are not victims or passive recipients of aid but – when given the proper resources – are capable of changing their lives and the lives of their children, families and communities.
ExpatWomen: What makes the WLL program different from other programs empowering women?
Tina: WLL uses established livelihood principles and is as such not different from other programmes ensuring women's empowerment and sustainability of projects. But here stop the similarities. WLL is unique because:
• It is the first time the UN Refugee Agency, in a systematic way, is building its own and refugee women's livelihoods capacity around the world.
• For the first time in its nearly 60-year history, the UNHCR invites prominent women to join us in finding lasting solutions for refugee, returnee and internally displaced women.
• WLL includes diaspora women in its policy planning and events.
• An overarching aim of WLL is to move refugee women's informal economic activities, which are often dangerous, dirty and disgusting, out from the shades and into the open, safe and regulated worklife, and
• WLL networks with engaged women in organizations that UNHCR traditionally has not linked up with, such as the International Trade Centre, The World Trade Organization and the International Finance Corporation. Joint activities supporting refugee women's livelihoods are currently being planned with ITC under the theme fair trade.
ExpatWomen: Why do female refugees need more help than male refugees to achieve equity and empowerment?
Tina:Not only do women and children make up a majority of UNHCR's 33 million persons of concern in 110 countries, they also face more discrimination than men. Women's continued under-representation in decision-making in governments, UN agencies and other sectors jeopardizes the lives, health and safety of refugee women and girls, who are in essence the majority of those that the UNHCR cares for. Even with solid knowledge and policy instructions from the General Assembly and the Security Council, it is very difficult for a UN agency or implementing partner to put an end to harmful traditional practices that affect refugee women and girls. Practices include early and forced marriage, ‘honour' killing, female genital mutilation and other forms of sexual and gender–based violence. Discriminatory national laws, lack of legislation or downright lack of political will are major obstacles. As it is common that abuse and exploitation of women and girls increase in displacement situations, it is paramount that their rights be protected.
If the proportion of women in parliaments globally increased from today's 18 percent to 50 percent there is little doubt that new legislation spelling out both women's and men's rights would be introduced faster than at the current pace. Nordic countries, with an average of 41 percent women parliamentarians, demonstrate these positive effects. Coincidentally men's and children's rights are also strengthened by an increase of women lawmakers.
ExpatWomen:As an expat woman dedicated to helping others, but in a field where the news is not always good, what inspires you and keeps you motivated every day?
Tina: I can hardly think of anyone who needs empowerment more than those who had to flee from their homes. Often they linger and suffer in camps or slums for years and decades without having any influence on their own and their family's future. Knowing this and trying to help their situation is plenty to keep me motivated. Naturally I feel fortunate to have wonderful kids, friends and colleagues who help me "chill out" after long days at the office. Being quite a dreamer, I sometimes visualize a peaceful evening with a good book, by the fireplace in a mountain log cabin. Together with family and friends I head for the mountains as often as possible, looking up that fireplace. Living close to the Alps is ideal.
ExpatWomen: What advice would you give women interested in going abroad to work with humanitarian agencies like the UN and UNHCR?
Tina: Being a self-appointed career advisor who enjoys tremendously discussing job opportunities with young people I would say:
• Make sure you are fluent in at least two of the UN's six official languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish).
• Be adaptable and flexible: you may find yourself seemingly at the end of the world in a first UNHCR posting.
• A solid education is a must (law, political science, economics, administration, social work, medicine, engineering, the list continues), work experience from a NGO or government agency helps and private sector work also counts.
• Do not hesitate to pursue with fervour what you want. People who falter when meeting resistance may not be ideal to promote the refugee cause in conflict-affected countries.
• Speaking for the UNHCR, we expect colleagues to be organised, effective and collegial and of course many staff are highly motivated because they care deeply about the refugee cause, and
• Check the ‘careers' pages on the website given below. Note that every Fall, the UNHCR holds a recruitment exam for the entry levels called the International Professional Roster Exam.
ExpatWomen: Finally, Tina, we heard that you are writing a book, loosely based on your experience in peacekeeping operations. Tell us more.
Tina:Yes, am writing a novel to try out a new communication channel. After reading a number of guide books, for instance the very enjoyable "How to Write a Damn Good Novel" by James N. Frey, my writing has gone from laughable to passable for a publisher in Norway. I feel quite cocky now that I have learned so many writer's tricks, but it is very challenging to use the knowledge in one's own writing. Whenever I have the time I try to write a little. My main character is faced with dirty career games, violence and abuse in a peacekeeping operation. She wonders what she can do about it. The working title is: "The Awakening of an Armed Woman". I say no more.
ExpatWomen:Tina, thank you very much for your time and we wish you and the UNHCR a year of unprecedented success.
