The Republic of Korea (ROK)-UNOSSC Facility: Innovation in Practice, Challenges and Solutions

Dr. Myonghee Kim was the former Executive Director of the Asia Pacific Women’s Information Network Center (APWINC) at Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul, Republic of Korea. The center was established in 1996 with a view to promote gender equality and women empowerment in the field of ICT in the Asia and Pacific region. APWINC has worked towards women’s capacity-building through conducting research, field surveys, education and training as well as conferences, workshops and seminars in gender and ICT. APWINC also collaborates with international organisations, governments and NGOs. In addition, Dr. Kim is the Vice President of the Korean Association for Corpus Linguistics and of the Global Women’s ICT Network (GWIN), and a member of the editorial board for the Applied Linguistics Association of Korea. She has also co-authored and contributed to various English textbooks in Republic of Korea.

As Director of Bagong Lumad Artists Foundation Inc. (BLAFI) founded by Philippine cultural icon Joey Ayala, Values-Educator Home-Economist, Pauline Angela Salvaña Bautista engaged indigenous fisherfolk, farmers, educators, elders, women and youth, civil servants and public school teachers in social artistry, from coastlines to mountains in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.  BLAFI’s partnerships with UNDP evolved knowledge products for nation-building and education, promoting positive values and critical thinking, peace and unity, a sense of morality and spirituality, and a respect for life and nature, combining elements of old with new, traditional with innovative, and indigenous with assimilated in form and function. Her multi-cultural ethnographic immersion at East West Center USA infused with the Asian Institute of Management’s VMOKRAPISPATRes grounds and concretizes humanitarian ideals honed from basic education to doctoral studies in Public Administration at the University of the Philippines and nurtured in Sandawa Stockfarm Corporation.

Dr. Totti Tjiptosumirat is Director of the Centre for Isotopes and Radiation Application (CIRA), a specialised research centre for nuclear application, particularly in the utilization of radiation for plant mutation breeding, Non-destructive Investigation (NDI), food irradiation and environmental monitoring, of the National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) of Indonesia. For over 30 years, Mr. Tjiptosumirat has been working for BATAN, where he started his career as a researcher in animal production. He served as Head of Bureau for Legal, Human Relations, Cooperation and Safety and Security (2012-2016). During this time, he also acted as a National Liaison Officer (NLO) of BATAN and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), of which role included being a facilitator and coordinator of the IAEA’s bilateral projects in Indonesia and the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to his current assignment, he is part of the IAEA’s Expert Mission for nuclear application project formulation for Africa under the framework of African Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training related to Nuclear Science and Technology (AFRA), an intergovernmental Agreement established by African Member States to strengthen and enlarge the contribution of nuclear science and technology to socioeconomic development on the African continent.

Mr. Ramu Damodaran is Deputy Director for Partnerships and Public Engagement in the United Nations Department of Public Information’s Outreach Division and is Chief of the United Nations Academic Impact initiative, which aligns institutions of higher learning and research with the objectives of the United Nations and the States and peoples who constitute it. He is also the current secretary of the United Nations Committee on Information. His earlier posts with the Organisation have included the Department of Peacekeeping and Special Political Questions, as well as the Executive Office of the Secretary-General. He has been a member of the Indian Foreign Service, where he was promoted to the rank of Ambassador, and where he served as Executive Assistant to the Prime Minister of India as well as in the diplomatic missions in Moscow and to the United Nations, and in a range of national government ministries. Mr. Damodaran has been actively involved in mass media in Broadcasting Union award for the best radio documentary.

Emma Webb is Head of Strategy and Partnerships in the Department of Technical Cooperation at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), based in Vienna, Austria.  She is the organisational lead on building and fostering effective external partnerships – including the promotion of South-South and Triangular Cooperation – and undertaking external advocacy and awareness raising to support IAEA Technical Cooperation programming.

She has worked in international development for over 20 years; undertaking field postings in Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, South Africa and Mongolia as well as Headquarters postings in New York, Bonn, and Vienna.  Prior to her appointment with the IAEA in 2015, she worked with UNDP for 18 years in a wide range duty stations and portfolios, including latterly as an Adviser in the Executive Office and as Team Leader for Results and Quality Programming in the Development Impact Group.  She also has extensive experience working with NGOs, particularly in the field of gender and reproductive rights.

Denis Nkala (Ph.D.) is the Regional Coordinator for Asia-Pacific in the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation.

He has worked in the Asia-Pacific region since 2006. He has worked extensively with countries in the region including China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Republic of Korea and Thailand. In 2009, he co-wrote a publication on South-South and triangular cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently, he has worked with a team from Thailand on a publication focusing on Thai outreach to other countries including the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy.

Denis Nkala studied Economics and Business Administration (B.Sc.), Applied Economics (M.Sc.) and Applied Management and Decision Sciences (Ph.D.). His previous assignments also include Iraq and Zimbabwe. Denis is a national of Zimbabwe.