Jung Min Jeon Grace , MPA
- Location : Disability & Gender inequality team, Social Development Division, UNESCAP
When I was travelling in Austria in 2008, I took a photo in front of the UN building thinking that I wish I could work at the UN. While I was studying as a graduate student at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, I applied for an internship to experience the UN, but thought that I would never have the chance to work as an intern. However, the hope that I have always had for a long time started to come true finally and I felt excited going UNESCAP which is located in Bangkok Thailand.
However, many obstacles were ahead of me. The first problem was childcare. Asking for help to take care of my kids for two months was not an easy thing to do, especially in Singapore. Including all the care for their schooling, I had to struggle to solve other issues such as visa, insurance as well and I thought I would have to give up the internship opportunity as it did not seem to work out well. Also, I had to think whether it is really worth investing my time and money with all the sacrifice of my family members including my two kids and parents. However, gratefully enough, everything was solved one by one. My Passion and my dream which I wanted to contribute myself for making this society better allowed me to go to Bangkok even though all the obstacles were lying ahead.
Based on my work experience at Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities for 13years which is under the Ministry of Employment and Labor, I researched accessibility related legislations and its example cases of the Republic of Korea. This was for publications ‘Disability at a Glace’ series which is published every two years by the UNESCAP, and the theme for the year of 2019 is “Accessibility”, offering a regional overview of disability-accessibility legislations and its best practices. The concept focuses on enabling access for persons with disabilities, through the use of assistive technology in built environment, Information Communications Technology and transportation. Practice of accessibility brings benefits not only for persons with disabilities but other groups as well such as the elderly, and the mothers of newborns. This is about making things accessible to all people whether they have a disability or not. I was thrilled that I contributed myself in publications of the UNESCAP and was proud that disability policy of the Republic of Korea was chosen as one of the best practices in Asia-Pacific regions. You can see this publication in this website. https://www.unescap.org/publications/disability-glance-2019
Also, I was fortunate to attend lectures by Kishore Mabubani at the UN conference. It was a pleasure meeting him in person as he collected the students from National University of Singapore in his room before starting a lecture at the UN conference hall. At that moment, I felt proud that I am an alumni of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
The time that I had spent in Bangkok UNESCAP was a great experience for me that I will never regret. It taught me how the UN system works and how the United Nations efforts make this world better. In addition, I was able to receive a good stimulation from my wonderful friends from Harvard, Princeton, Yale and LSE who gave me the chance to see the world with broaden perspectives.
It was an honor for me to have a chance to see the UN as a graduate student and I appreciate AA service staff at Lee Kuan Yew school of Public Policy for helping my internship preparations.
I hope to contribute myself more in the near future as a proud alumni of LKY school.
Thank you.
