仕事の意味

This is what my supervisor said the other day when we had a farewell lunch for a student who was interning for the team.

We all work in this field (development, gender equality), because we are passionate about issues. It is not just a career and making money. One thing that we should not forget when we work is that we are representing voices of women around the world who cannot be at the table. We are privileged and have power to bring their voices to the table.

I feel that it is so true, especially working at the headquarters level. I do not have any decision making authority in my position, but I get to attend meetings where many very important policy issues are discussed, which could have huge implications to a woman in a country living in a rural area, who may have been affected by floods or conflicts etc, though of course, I am not overestimating what the UN can do and actually does.

It is very easy to get carried away in the day to day work with deadlines, bureaucracies and meetings. But, I should renew my commitment every day. I may be just reviewing a policy document or framework, making inputs by inserting a sentence or a word, which may have been overlooked, but doing this actually I have opportunities to contribute to something potentially significant, and I need to really keep this in mind.