Rukaya Mohammed, Deputy Country Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) Country Office in Kenya

CV in Brief

Education:

●        Ph.D. degree in Public Policy and Administration from Walden University, USA.

●        Master's degree in International Development and Social Change from Clark University, USA,

●        Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) degree in Agriculture Technology from the University of Development Studies , GHANA.

Career so far:

Deputy Country Director of the UN Women Country Office in Kenya, January 2020

Gender Responsive Peacebuilding Policy Specialist at the UN Women- Peace and Security Section in New York, 2018-2020

Program Specialist at UN Women- Women’s Economic Empowerment and Humanitarian Action in South Sudan, 2015-2018

Procurement Consultant at UN Women HQ Procurement Section where she supported the Gender Responsive Procurement Initiative in New York, 2013-2014

Manager of the UN Joint Program on Human Security at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Ghana, 2012-2013

Manager of the Creating Livelihoods Opportunities for High Risk Youth Program at the United Nations Development Program in Liberia, 2010-2012

Head of United Nations Volunteers (UNV) at the United Nations Development Program in Liberia, 2008-2010

Micro Enterprise Development Coordinator with the American Refugee Committee International in Liberia, 2006-2008

Rukaya also worked on market access for small scale entrepreneurs and producers with Oxfam Market Access Promotion Network -2003-2004, and on women’s financial inclusion and access to renewable energy with NewEnergy in Ghana, 2003-2001

Awards

- Creativity and Innovation Award, UNDP Liberia Annual Recognition Event, March 2010

- American Association of University Women Graduate Award Fellow, USA, 2004-2005

- Compton Environmental Award Fellow, USA, 2004-2006

- Melder Travel Award, USA, 2005

- World Women Summit on Information Society (Gender Caucus) Research Award, South Africa, 2005

DATE OF INTERVIEW: October 11, 2020

TW: Interview contains minor references to violence and assault.

Exclusive Interview by Diala Ghneim

Rukaya has worked for over 15 years in programming and policy support. Her extensive experience covers the topics of women economic empowerment, gender responsive peacebuilding, youth peace and security, humanitarian action, reintegration, gender responsive procurement, human security, volunteerism and resource mobilization across Ghana, Liberia, South Sudan, Kenya and the UN Women headquarters in New York. Born in Ghana, Rukaya is a national of both Ghana and the United States.

Three Pieces of Advice:

-        Regard the challenges in your life as opportunities to learn and grow.

-        Always speak up for your rights.

-        Have clear goals but be flexible and accept the reroutes in your path.

Tell me about your background and upbringing (your parents, education, inspirations).

I hail from Western Africa, specifically, a small town called Salaga in northern Ghana. There were eight of us growing up. I am the third child and the first daughter in my family. My father left to Saudi Arabia to continue his Islamic education and my mother joined him when I was nine years old. My siblings and I were raised by our aunt. In my village, women education was not a priority at that time.  For a young woman, it was socially common to just focus on marriage.

As a result of such a prevailing mentality, I constantly had to prove myself. Whether it was at school, with my teachers or even with my parents; I always had to show those around me that I was capable.

By the time I turned 14, an ethnic conflict erupted in northern Ghana. This conflict was a traumatic experience which disrupted my schooling and family life. The killings started in a faraway town, but it escalated and reached my town, Salaga. In conflict situations, people generally put children in trucks hoping they will escape the violence. That is what happened to us. My aunt had to put us into a truck to leave the area and find a safe place. The conflict deeply affected our lives- our school closed, many teachers left and didn’t return, houses and properties were destroyed, pregnant women were killed for fear of giving birth to a male child; and even when the violence ended, many of my friends were scared to go back to school.

This sudden change in my life made me ponder on certain questions. I began asking myself ‘Why do people kill one another? Why am I being displaced in my own country? Why would pregnant women, men and boys of certain tribes be targets? How can I help people who were affected? How can I become a peace broker?’ I considered that experience to be an important point in my life: it made me passionate about peaceful co-existence and respect for human rights, but I knew nothing about international development, peace building and gender equality at that time.

When the conflict ended, we returned to our town and I continued attending junior high school. I graduated top three in my class. After my achievements in high school and my university acceptance; my family started believing in me. I have three other younger sisters and I paved the way for them to follow in my footsteps. Today, every girl in our family attends university and values education.

After pursuing my undergraduate degree, I worked as a Micro Enterprise Development Coordinator with a local nongovernmental organization (NGO) called NewEnergy, where I supported women’s financial inclusion.

I became determined to get my master’s degree in international development from abroad, hence I applied to many scholarship opportunities in the US. I received many rejection letters, but it didn’t discourage me. After many applications, I was offered a scholarship by the American Association of University Women. I moved to the US and began my degree in International Development and Social Change from Clark University. I met my husband in America; we got married and I had my first son during my final semester before graduating.

Throughout my studies, I started becoming familiar with the United Nations programs, and my interest in working with them began to grow. I applied to many UN positions, but I was not getting any responses back. Most of the job postings I was drawn to required many years of experience working with refugees in post conflict settings. I realized that I needed to develop myself more to work for the UN and I decided to start by applying to work for other international organizations.

I came across a position with the American Refugee Committee in Liberia which was similar to my first job on supporting women entrepreneurs access credit in northern Ghana. The opportunity was completely aligned with my previous experiences and sure enough, I did get the job.

I accepted the offer, but it meant I had to leave the US and move to Liberia. There is an important point I wish to highlight to younger women. When I first met my husband, I made it clear to him that I was passionate about my career. I told him I wanted to make an impact and difference in Africa. I was committed to that vision, and thankfully, he was very supportive of me. My son couldn’t accompany me when I accepted the job offer in Liberia and he had to be raised by my mother in Ghana.

I am sure that familial arrangement had its own set of challenges. How was that experience for you?

It was difficult to be away from my son, but I was in constant communication with my family. My house was filled with pictures of my son, my husband and my family. I would also visit them regularly during the long weekends since the flight time is two hours.

Throughout my life, I had to juggle work, family and education. These are the silent battles that women face in their careers. .

How was your experience in Liberia?

Four months after starting the job, I faced a traumatic incident. My roommate and I were attacked by armed robbers searching for my organization’s money in our residence.

As an employee with the American Refugee Committee, I was required to deliver small monetary grants to women entrepreneurs. I was the person who carried the money. These robbers attacked us in hopes of stealing whatever amount I had for our beneficiaries. The money was kept in the safe in our office. I kept telling them I did not have the money, but we gave them our personal cash, laptops and other items, including our office car. We were beaten and tortured. It was a traumatic experience.

By some miracle, they did not kill us and instead stole our belongings before leaving.

My roommate immediately resigned after the incident. But I didn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, I was very traumatized by the incident and I told my employers that I needed to live in an area with better security. They agreed, and I moved to a UN house where other UN workers lived. I also underwent trauma counselling. However, if anything, the incident made me care more about women issues and gender violence. It made me stronger. I view many of the challenges that happen in my life as opportunities to learn.

That is unbelievingly brave of you. What was your reasoning for staying in Liberia and continuing your job?

I continued my work because it is my passion. I was not going to let one incident deter me from my path. At that point in my life, I was already 29 years old and had witnessed displacement and conflict. Having already worked hard to get to where I was, quitting or leaving was not an option. I remember after the incident, my country director told me “Rukaya you connect well with the people, your work is impacting the lives of women and girls and I appreciate your work”.

What happened after that?

I stayed in my job, but also continuously worked towards my goal of working at the UN. I applied again and my application was now on the roster. I interviewed for a few positions with UN agencies, but it did not work out.

I finally got an interview with the United Nations Volunteer Program (UNV) as Head of UNV with UNDP in Liberia. The entire application and interview process took approximately 3 months to complete, but I got the job. I was responsible for the UNV program with UNDP in Liberia.

However, another challenge arose for me. By the time I started my UNV position, I was seven months pregnant with my second child. During the first week on the job, my supervisors noticed I was pregnant, and they called me in for a meeting to discuss this condition. They asked why I didn’t mention my pregnancy during the interview process, and I said ‘Well, there was no question about that. Our interview was conducted three months ago, and it was focused on my ability to perform my tasks.’ I told them about my journey and how I rearranged my personal life in order to pursue my goal of working with the UN. I ended with ‘At this stage I shouldn’t be discriminated against. Pregnancy is not a disability. If maternity leave is an issue for you, I will not take it. I will deliver my child and come back to work the next day’. My direct boss was stunned by my answer. She was quiet for a while before saying ‘I am a woman and a mother. I personally would hate for anybody to discriminate against me for that reason. Rukaya, you have my full support. You can go on your full maternity leave and I guarantee your position will be secured.’

And that’s exactly what happened. I had my second son while taking my full 16 weeks of maternity leave and returned to my job right after. Men do not have to face these sorts of challenges. I mention this story to encourage women to speak up for their rights.

Upon my return, I worked very hard to make the UNV program visible. I organized events that important people in government, including the president would attend. I increased volunteer uptake of UN agencies by mobilizing youth all over the country. I started initiatives between UNV volunteers and local university students. Within two years of my position, I won an award for creativity and innovation by the UNDP. Personally, this position was the most enriching experience of my professional journey.

My work at UNV sharpened my skills and allowed me to network with other UN agencies. Exactly two years later, UNDP Liberia offered me a staff contract to manage a livelihood program for high-risk youth.

These experiences gave me a sense of fulfilment, but my ultimate goal was to come back to northern Ghana and contribute to changing the lives of women and girls from my region. I thus applied for a Joint Program Manager job in Ghana with the UNDP and was finally reunited with my children and family. The UNV job with UNDP was my first official job with the UN and I was offered the staff position two years after, largely in part to my time and performance with UNV. I highly encourage all young women who are interested in working at the UN to apply for volunteering opportunities with UNV. It will open many doors for you. 

Jumping off your last statement, what is the best piece of advice you can offer young professionals who hope to join the UN one day?

Most of the time, the UN requires a certain number of years for experience. If you don’t fulfil that requirement; you can still work in other fields to gain those years of experience.  And when you finally get your dream job, you will be bringing more value to the table and will be performing better. It’s never too late.

Look at my story. I officially joined the UN when I was 30 years old and before that I was working with an American NGO. There is no such thing as being too late. I see many young people today struggling and being too hard on themselves when applying to UN jobs, I would tell them ‘try civil society, try UNV, try Internship to get more experiences and you can always come back and try again in a few years.’

When people set a goal, they always assume that reaching it needs to be done in a straight line. That’s not true. You have to bend that line, go backwards, go around, climb it – and do whatever it takes to reach it. 

Can you elaborate on your current role as the Deputy Director of UN Women in Kenya?

I took my current job in January 2020. As the Deputy Country Director, I am number two in the organization; number one being the Director. In Kenya, the work is focused on our triple mandate:

1. Normative, which supports the government to translate global norms and standards on gender equality into the local context.

2. Programmatic, the upstream and downstream policy and program work on strengthening the capacity of duty bearers and rights holders to promote women’s leadership and political participation.

3. Coordination with various gender platforms within the UN and the government to drive action around gender equality and women empowerment.

My job entails the day-to-day management of the country program, operational support, people leadership, resource mobilization and establishing strategic partnership with civil society, government, UN agencies and the private sector to advance gender equality in Kenya

An important point I mention to people who are not familiar with what the UN does is this: As UN, we are not supposed to implement projects directly, our role is to strengthen capacity of government, local civil society groups, and women rights organizations. And this is done by selecting partners that are aligned with our mandate to deliver on the ground.

Working at the UN in New York is every foreign policy person’s dream. What were the major lessons you learned during your time at the headquarters?

I worked in New York as a Gender Responsive Peacebuilding Policy Specialist before I was promoted to my current position.

What helped me transition to New York was my skill in flexibility. Before coming to the headquarters, I took a job in a conflict area with UN Women in South Sudan. It was an exciting and very rewarding assignment, working for women affected by conflict and supporting their livelihoods. We were also aiming to influence the government to facilitate women participation in peace and political processes.

The peace building process was not a part of my terms of reference (TOR), but I still did it. You shouldn’t say ‘oh this task is not part of my job description’.

During my time in South Sudan, we were organizing a first of its kind national women peace dialogue to heighten women understanding of the Peace Agreement. My boss asked me if I could lead it and I said yes. The conference was a huge success. I got more involved in women’s participation in peacebuilding and sustaining peace in addition to my economic empowerment and humanitarian action work. It was through it that I was able to apply to my job in New York. 

It’s important for one to have flexibility. Know your direction; know where you want to go but accept the reroutes in your life. I accepted any tasks that came my way. There is no place for arrogance when you are trying to advance in your career.  All these voluntary tasks made me become a better Deputy Director.

While in New York, I also served as a desk officer for Sudan and worked with different agencies to support gender responsive and peaceful political transition. The major lesson I learned was the need to be persistent and build allies when advancing gender equality. I persistently and collaboratively worked with colleagues, UN partners and the UN Women Country office in Sudan to ensure the integration of gender.

What about your most memorable experiences in New York?

For my role in New York, I was also in charge of youth, peace and security. I created spaces of engagement between young people and policy makers. We would bring in women and young women from the grass root civil society level to allow policy makers to understand the reality on the ground.

New York gave me a platform to reach younger audiences and made me realize that this is my passion. When I retire, I hope to work in a field that would allow me to interact with young people. I would love to be a mentor, to transform perspectives and give young people hope.

In terms of challenges, there are many entities that do not include women perspectives in their processes. I had many instances in meetings where I would make suggestions and give advice on gender dynamics, but when the final document is out, I realize that my input has not been reflected.

There is a lot of pushback when working on gender equality, even at the UN level. You must constantly fight and engage in extensive communications at different levels to get your input on gender in. But this all empowers me and reminds me that our work cannot stop, we have a lot more work to do.

This perfectly leads us to my next question. As a woman, and precisely as a Black woman, what were some of the challenges you had to face in your career path?

In Liberia, I managed a particular project where I was the youngest woman on the team but was also the head. It was a disadvantage. My jobs involved working with men subordinates and there were many instances where they wouldn’t take my authority. I had to be tough. Some men were disrespectful. I had to give my instructions with deadlines, and some men will still submit incomplete work and expect me to finish it for them.

As a woman, who is also a woman of color, you don’t have too many role models to look up to. You need to work very hard to fulfill your aspirations. I have to constantly read about ways of becoming a better leader and on improving my leadership skills in order for the men around me to feel like I am capable of leading. Men do not have to go through this.

In my time in New York, I observed that a lot of leadership positions in the UN in general are not held by women, especially women of color. We tried to bring in the voices of vulnerable people, especially women and girls to shape global policy deliberations in New York. Policy making processes should have greater, more meaningful participation and consultations with affected communities; especially women and youth.

In your opinion, what are the ‘must-have’ skills needed for women to work in your field?

Flexibility, adaptability and being open. But the most important skill to have is emotional intelligence. If you are intelligent and smart you will get the job, but your emotional intelligence is what helps you excel at the job. You can pass the interview and answer all the questions correctly, but if you don’t know how to relate with people you won’t be able to keep your job.

You need to be empathetic and to put yourself in people’s situations, how you deal with your team’s weaknesses matters.  You need to be an empowering leader who is emotionally strong, and you must have self-control. Don’t speak when you are angry, you cannot retract words spoken out of anger. You can deliver your message in a direct way without being emotional.

This field is male dominated, you need to be resilient when pursuing your career. See challenge as an opportunity. Always give your best and don’t do things halfway.    

Any parting words and advice for young women who aspire to work in foreign policy?

It’s a difficult question, but I would tell them this: You can be anything.

You can be a professional woman, a wife and a mother.

You need to expose yourself to many experiences to become a multitasker. Most men cannot do what we can do. Be open and flexible at home and with your family. Never give up on your calling. If you feel strong about something you need to work hard for it. My life events did not stop me. The armed robbery did not make me quit my job, my pregnancy did not hinder my career growth, working in a conflict area did not stop me from getting my PhD.

To all young women, especially women of color, I would advise you to work very hard. Be open to feedback and constructive criticism to become better. If anyone ever tries to put you down, always focus on your goals and realize how great you are.

I live by these 3 ‘P’s: Passion, positivity and peace.

Be passionate about your goals, be authentic and do not let negative thinking limit you. Make sure you surround yourself with positive people.

Be at peace with everyone. Let it reflect by showing love and kindness to those around you and showing appreciation for what God has written.

And finally, be teachable and coachable with everyone that shows up on your path.

Disclaimer: The information provided during this interview reflects Rukaya’s personal views and not those of UN Women.