This event is organised in partnership with the British Association of Former United Nations Civil Servants, the Oxford United Nations Association, and the Department of Politics and International Relations and builds on the success of previous years’ events. If you’re interested in a career with the United Nations, or elsewhere in international affairs, this is a great event to learn first-hand about the work, challenges, and opportunities in diplomacy, development and humanitarian sectors. Please register with the link provided.

You will hear from our esteemed panel of speakers: Stephen Rudgard, who has held senior roles at the UN food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Tomoko Nishimoto who has held senior roles across multiple UN agencies in Asia and Africa, and Jeff Crisp, former Head of Policy Development at UNHCR and an Associate Fellow at Chatham House.

About Our Speakers:
Stephen Rudgard retired from full-time employment with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in June 2020, and has since fulfilled a range of short-term roles with FAO. He served as FAO Representative to Indonesia and to Timor Leste from April 2018 until retirement. Before moving to Jakarta, Stephen was FAO Representative to Lao PDR for four years from 2014. From 2000 to 2014, Stephen worked in FAO Headquarters, latterly as Chief, Knowledge and Capacity for Development, which also established FAO’s e-learning programme. Prior to FAO, he worked for 10 years for the intergovernmental agency CAB International based in the UK Headquarters, and before that for the Interamerican Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture.

Tomoko Nishimoto was born and raised in Osaka, Japan. She has extensive executive experience in Africa and Asia as a senior official working at four United Nations organizations and at Nutrition International, an international NGO. Her UN career spanned more than 30 years, starting with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a Programme Officer, progressing to Deputy Resident Representative and then Country Director. She moved mid-career to UNICEF as Programme Coordinator and Deputy Representative for Zambia. Later in her career, she also worked with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as Director of the Division of Regional Cooperation, and her final UN role was Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific for the International Labour Organization (ILO). She is married and has two children.

Jeff Crisp has held senior positions with UNHCR (Head of Policy Development and Evaluation), Refugees International (Senior Director for Policy and Advocacy) and the Global Commission on International Migration (Director of Policy and Research). He has also worked for the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues, the British Refugee Council and Coventry University. Jeff has first-hand experience of humanitarian operations throughout the world and has published and lectured widely on refugee and migration issues. He has a Masters degree and PhD in African Studies from the University of Birmingham. He is currently an Associate Fellow in International Law at Chatham House.