The Cube

Issue 1 Winter 2022
The
CUBE
UNU MERIT Alumni Magazine
`
The Fight to End Poverty:
MERIT alumni addressing SDG 1
`
In this issue:
David Lambert Tumwesigy ‘2003
How he built social protection schemes in
Uganda
Arushi Tangri ‘2019
The MPP as a window of
opportunity
Amjad Rabi ‘2007
His winding path back to
the Internaitonal Labour
Organization
The MPP Scholarship
Discover how your efforts can
make a difference

Content
03
Introducing the Cube
04
The Editors Desk
06
SDG 1 and MERIT Alumni
08
Interview with David Lambert
12
The MPP Scholarship
14
Interview with Arushi Tangri
18
The Alumni Committee
22
Regional Ambassadors
24
Interview with Amjad Rabi
28
Hello from the retirement side!
30
The MPP Ambassador
32
The San Francisco Conference
34
Updates from Maastricht
36
Updates from UNU-MERIT
Kasteel Vaeshartelt, Maastricht

INTRODUCING THE CUBE
Welcome to “The Cube”! No, not the common meeting place for amazing
coffee on top of the UNU-MERIT building, but a joint effort of MERIT
alumni and UNU-MERIT to connect our global alumni network and our
current students.
The Cube is a free resource for alums to reconnect with their alma
mater, from wherever they are around the world, and keep updated on
the happenings of UNU-MERIT and Maastricht.
Moreover, The Cube will be a resource that allows the current cohort of
students to better link the university where they study and the city they
live in with the work and life of the alumni from this university.
We hope you all enjoy looking through this window into the lives of our
alumni and students!
We have arranged these editions to fit a busy lifestyle, as we are aware
life can leave little time to sit down and read. Each edition will focus on
an SDG, paying homage to our academic background and the societal
intention of our careers. Scan through our table of contents to the
segments that catch your eye and enjoy being caught up on UNU-MERIT
alumni life.
The Cube | 03

Introducing the Editors
Kristina Holtrop
Kristina is a recent graduate of the MPP
program at UNU-MERIT as a member of the
2022 cohort. Although she is originally from
the United States, she is currently based
in Chiang Mai, Thailand as a Fellow with
Cambridge Reproductive Health Consultants,
where she conducts research on abortion
referral networks among displaced Burmese
women. She specialized in social protection
at UNU-MERIT, and before starting the MPP
program, she worked in political organizing and
financial accounting in rural Washington State.
Jairaj Gopalakrishnan
Jairaj is a recent graduate of the MPP program at UNU-MERIT
as a member of the 2022 cohort. An Indian who was born
and brought up in Dubai, Jairaj is an aspiring education
scholar, and came to Maastricht for his Bachelors in
Economics and Business at the School for Business and
Economics in 2017. During COVID, he gained experience
with an Indian NGO as a research assistant, working
on Education for Sustainable Education modules.
He joined the MPP in 2021, specializing in Social
Protection. Currently, he is at the International
Training Center for the ILO as an intern for the Social
Protection, Governance and Tripartism unit.
Jaime Paredes Talavera
Jaime completed the MPP program in 2020 after specializing in Social Protection. He
was born and raised in Peru, and completed his undergraduate studies in the United
States and France before coming to Maastricht in 2018. After graduation, he moved
to Berkeley, USA to do policy advocacy work for the ACLU of San Francisco. More
recently, Jaime joined a Dutch-Peruvian start-up international development project as
lead communicator. Currently he is working on a research project about horizontal
inequalities in Peru. Jaime’s favourite activities these days include sailing, walking
in the silence of the coastal Redwood forests of California, browsing in used
bookstores for books of history and literature, and teaching himself German.
The Cube | 04

Editor’s Note
Maastricht, or Mestreech if you love things in the
limburgish way, the beautiful and unique city along
the banks of the Maas river. It was here that the
Romans settled in the first century (there were
other people living here before the Romans), and
more significant for our times, it was here where
the European Union was born. And if there is
something that unites all UNU-MERIT alumni, it is
our time in Maastricht. In its streets we rode our
bicycles, in its cafe terraces we exchanged laughter
and stories, in its Markt we bought our vegetables,
and in its streets we experienced a carnival unlike
any other. Whether you used to commute from the
charming bordering Belgian towns or simply walk
across the Sint Servaasbrug, our minds are filled
with memories of the time there. And what brought
us all to Maastricht was UNU-MERIT, that center of
innovation and research which has rightfully gained
its place among the world’s leading policy centers.
In the classrooms we discussed with our colleagues
how to tackle the world’s leading challenges. And
when the MPP or the PhD came to an end, from
here we launched our paths into all corners of the
earth to make a meaningful impact on this world.
If you ever wondered what happened to your
colleagues and all the generations of passionate
policy experts that passed through here, and you
also wondered how we could all connect again,
then you need not wonder any more. The Cube is
going to change that. We hope that in the pages of
this first issue, and in the future quarterly editions
of The Cube, you will find the stories, information
and updates to connect you to your alma mater:
the United Nations University-MERIT. And we hope
that through these pages you will find your old
colleagues and hopefully as well some future ones.
Met vriendelijke groet,
The Editorial Team

`
Alumni Spotlight
This Issue’s theme:
End poverty
in all its forms
everywhere
The Cube | 06

No poverty! What an objective to have! Are we close to eliminating
all poverty by 2030? You can answer that for yourself. Whether you
answer yes or no, you probably will not argue against the merit of this
goal. And seeking to eliminate poverty in all its forms everywhere is
not an objective for those who lack conviction. There is much to do,
and millions of people out there waiting for the eradication of poverty
believe this is a worthwhile goal. Fortunately, we are the alumni and
students of the United Nations University, and if there is a group of
people that are going to do something about this goal, it will be us.
Most of us understand very well the implications of poverty and how
it prevents humanity from moving forward. Whether you learned
about it from your classes or through volunteering or in an internship
journey abroad, or perhaps from your own personal experience in
your home town, we all likely agree that this is a priority objective.
Poverty affects all its victims in the same way; it steals from them
the right to live a life with dignity and opportunity. Perhaps it was
the desire to fight poverty that motivated you to study the MPP
or pursue the PhD, or perhaps it was once you were in UNU that
you discovered what you wanted to do about it and how to do it.
For the alumni that we feature in this first issue of The Cube it was
all of these reasons. It was the way that poverty affected women
and children in New Dehli that motivated Arushi Tangri (MPP’
2019) to do the MPP so that she could enage in policy work that
directly helped the most vulnerable around her. David Lambert
Tumwesigye (MPP’ 2002) wanted to contribute to the end of
poverty in his native Uganda, and so he contributed to building a
successful, inclusive social protection system. And Amjad Rabi
(MPP’ 2007), the social security expert of Iraq, has learned and now
teaches too that there are plenty of ways in which you can reduce
poverty, including, of course, through social security schemes. In
all these stories you will find a common link, a genuine desire to
contribute to reducing vulnerabilities and therefore ending poverty.
What will your own personal path towards achieving SDG 1 look
like?
Do not hesitate to share your own thoughts and letters with the
editorial team. We look forward to sharing it with all UNU-MERIT
alumni in future issues.
The Cube | 07

David Lambert
Tumwesigye
Alumni Spotlight
Interview by Kristina Holtrop
David moderating World Bank dialogue of the Social Protection and Jobs campus, June 2022

I am proud of being
able to influence
the government of
Uganda, and it does
set the stage for
more inclusive social
protection.
The Cube | 09

SOCIA
SPF class of 2001. Standing L to R, Denis, Michiel, Roberto and seated L to R: David, Josephine, Ben, Leroy, Qingping, Millicent, Florian
One of the first students in the early days of the MPP program (previously Msc. Social Protection
FInancing (SPF)) was David Lambert Tumwesigye. Since attending UNU-MERIT, he has led a fulfilling
career promoting and building social protection systems in Africa. Originally from Uganda, he has
since returned to his home country where he currently works as the Global Advocacy Manager for
Child Poverty/Social Protection at Save the Children International. However, his CV is littered with
many other achievements in the two decades between this position and his time at UNU-MERIT.
He owes his education at Maastricht to his job at the time. Then Head of Research at the National
Social Security Fund of Uganda, his organisation sent him to study at the Masters program at UNU-
MERIT on a partial scholarship funded by the University and the International Labour Organisation
(ILO). “The program was heavy on policy analysis,” he recounts of the skills he gained while at
UNU. “When you study, sometimes things look very abstract; you don’t really appreciate them
until you start working. We got hands-on training on better policy design and influencing: It’s
one thing to write a good report and it’s another to get it implemented by the right people. Our
homework included drafting technical memoranda with assignments like, “you’re going to meet the
minister of finance tomorrow . ‘Can you prepare a brief on why it matters and how much it costs
to introduce a national health insurance scheme in your country?’ And this is exactly what I have
done for a living since then. It’s been exciting, challenging, and very rewarding at the same time.”
David remembers fondly the tight-knit community of the SPF: the bike rides and nights out with
classmates, drinks with the ILO teachers at the Irish Pub at the Vrijthof, dinners at faculty member’s
homes and international cookouts among his best memories. After graduation, David moved to
Ghana and began working as a Chief Technical Advisor to the ILO’s Ghana Social Trust pilot. A
couple years later, he returned to Uganda and worked as Research and Planning Officer and later
as a Performance Intelligence Manager at his former employer- the National Social Security Fund.
Eventually David embarked on his proudest endeavor: working to scale up Uganda’s national
cash transfer program as Economist and later as a Policy and Advocacy Advisor at the Expanding
Social Protection Program. Funded by the UK and Irish Governments, this program began with
a pilot project in fourteen districts and eventually scaled up to forty by the time he left, and now it
runs in all 136 districts in the country. “I am proud of being able to influence the government
of Uganda, and it sets the stage for a more inclusive social protection system,” he remarks.
The Cube | 10

HOW David BUILT
L PROTECTION SCHEMES
IN AFRICA
David conducting a media interview on impact of cash transfers on poverty

THINGS YOU CAN DO TO
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Holiday Gifting
This holiday season make a wish come
true for a new MPP student! Contribute
75 euros to the scholarship and receive a
special holiday gift.
Be a Fundraiser
Take an extra step in investing in the MPP
Scholarship by becoming a fundraiser. Share
with your community why the scholarship is
important.
To learn more about becoming a fundraiser,
write to us at alumni@merit.unu.edu.
Share & Donate
The Cube | 12

The MPP
Scholarship
What would your life be without the MPP? Each year we miss
out on having promising MPP candidates from non-EU
countries because of financial constraints. Did you know
the gap between EU and non-EU tuition fees is €13.591?
Last year, UNU-MERIT started with the MPP Scholarship, the
first service to be provided by the UNU-MERIT Scholarship
Fund. The MPP Scholarship is specially meant for a non-
EU student who has not previously had the chance to
study outside of their home country due to financial
constraints and is not in a position to pay the non-EU
tuition fee. The scholarship is co-funded by the MERIT
Community (i.e. alumni, friends, and UNU-MERIT) and
allows the recipient to pursue The Master of Science in
Public Policy and Human Development, which you know
has a significant impact on broadening career aspects.
When you contribute to the MPP Scholarship, you create
the opportunity for another person to make significant
strides in their pursuit of a career in policy. Support UNU-
MERIT in their mission to make public policy education
more accessible and provide a future policymaker
with the tools they need to succeed in their career.
The Cube | 13

Arushi Tangri
Alumni Spotlight
Interview by Jaime Paredes

I’m quite thankful to the
MPP which helped me as
a stepping stone into the
international world where I
could carry on with my goal
of doing impact-driven work.
The Cube | 15

The MPP: A Window of Opportunity
Arushi Tangri grew up in New Delhi, a bustling
metropolis and the center of India’s political power. With
a population of 19 million people, New Delhi offers many
contrasts to its rich cultural and historical legacy. As in other
capital cities such as Johannesburg, La Paz, and Mexico
City, in New
Delhi poverty
persists. And so
Arushi grew up
understanding
poverty issues
from up close.
Although she
knew she was
fortunate to have
the opportunity
to study law for
her bachelors
and achieve a
very successful
legal career,
Arushi wanted to
do more to help
those around
her experiencing
vulnerablilty.
She saw in the
struggle of women and children a need for action, and she
understood that if she could help in some way, then the
cycles that trap people in poverty and inequality could
be disrupted. And so as a law student she led students in
a project to frequently give legal aid to families living in
poverty in the slums. Once she became a lawyer Arushi
had a successful early career as a legal practitioner at the
Supreme Court of India and the High Court of New Delhi. While
her work included varied cases, Arushi was motivated to
find time to do pro-bono work and help the vulnerable with
legal matters as a lawyer just as she had done as a student.
The issue of poverty has a personal significance
for Arushi. In her visits to the impoverished people of New
Delhi, Arushi quickly developed a connection with women
and children, and she realized that they were the most
vulnerable whose rights were frequently violated. As a
woman she knew that in a patriarchal society women
are often discriminated against, but her experiences with
the most vulnerable women of the weaker sections of the
society showed her the extremes of this injustice. It was
then that she realized that the cycle of poverty needs
to be broken for this particular section of the society
to come out of it, and that she had a calling to work for
the rights of women and children living in poverty. Arushi
decided to do some research to determine her next career
step. And you can probably guess where a research trip
like Arushi’s leads to. Many of us one day in our corners
of the world decided to study public policy and began
that research trip to choose the best program. For many
of us the choice of UNU Maastricht was a clear choice, for
others the choice was not easy and with good reason since
there is much to consider. Moving to a new city across the
world? One year of your life for the Master’s programme,
many more for the PhD, that is a lot to consider. Then, there
are the lucky ones, the ones that already knew Maastricht
before moving there, and the luckier ones maybe even
studied European Studies at FASoS? But being “lucky”
only helps you with the move, the program still had to
be completed, and all of us shared the same challenges.
Moving from New Delhi to Maastricht was a big
decision but it was an easy one. Arushi herself confesses
that she had come down to two choices: a well known
university in London and Maastricht. Once there, the choice
was a straightforward one for Arushi, the MPP of UNU-
MERIT and Maastricht University was the best choice for an
aspiring policy-maker. Even in London she was not going to
find as much diversity as in the United Nations University.
When I ask Arushi how she feels looking back at the MPP
programme she is happy to talk about it. A center of
innovation in policy research and policy-making, MERIT
gave Arushi all the tools she needed to be a public policy
professional. She feels that now she can go beyond legal
aid for those in need, and engage in policy interventions to
achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
For Arushi the MPP was much more than excellent
training in international public policy, it was really the
people that Arushi remembers with most affection. I can see
her smile and she tells me how much she loved the MPP. She
even tells me that “sitting in the cube with everybody and
finishing those assignments for the tutorials” is something
she misses a lot. I listen to Arushi and feel the need to
reflect for a moment. Those long hours in the cube could be
brutally frustrating and exhausting. But I know immediately
she is right, those learning sessions together were really
memorable. That is where most of the practical learning
was done. For those who were not used to the Problem
Based Learning system or the Dutch educational model, the
PBL sessions were a truly new learning experience, and in
the end it proved to be a very successful training method.
The Cube | 16

The opportunity to be in such a multicultural
learning environment was something unique that only
the MPP offered. Other programs offer an international
aspect, but UNU-MERIT is an international hub. She likes to
remember that there were almost one hundred nationalities
in her cohort. She feels as if she had traveled the world
during that year in Maastricht. When Arushi tells me this
I realize that Arushi is saying something very significant.
The MPP was not her first time outside of India. Arushi is
well traveled, and she had visited many countries before
doing the MPP, nevertheless, she still feels that the Masters
at Maastricht was the biggest of her global voyages.
violence and they are provided educational, food and wellbeing
facilities to break the vicious cycle of poverty for
their families. The other partner NGO provides education
and self-employment opportunities to women of a tribal
community so that they can themselves provide basic
needs to their families. All this work is only the beginning
of a successful career that Arushi hopes will allow her
to make a significant positive impact in the world.
Back in New Delhi, Arushi now feels more confident
of the unique international perspective that Maastricht
offered her. Her new extensive network of smart and
ambitious future global leaders is also motivating. She now
can address policy issues through policy interventions thanks
to the MPP. She tells me that UNU brought her closer to her
goal of working on poverty issues in an international setting.
Since she studied in Maastricht, Arushi has
focused her career on policy action with international
organizations such as GIZ, Includovate, and ConnectAID. In
one of her professional roles after the MPP Arushi worked
with BRAC USA as a policy professional for a project on
extreme poverty in Ethiopia. During this experience, Arushi
worked on a landscape policy analysis project to evaluate
government policy interventions in Ethiopia that targeted
extreme poverty and provide possible interventions
for the organization. This role allowed her to put into
practice the knowledge she acquired during the MPP.
More recently, Arushi has joined ConnectAID,
a Swiss-based organization which works to achieve
the SDGs by 2030. As a program coordinator for the
NGOs and partnerships division, Arushi coordinates
with partner organizations abroad, including
some in South Asia which work on the SDGs .
Very recently Arushi was part of ConnectAID’s India
Mission, an effort to do site visits of the organization’s NGO
partners that are working specifically in poverty related
issues along with capturing their impact driven work.
In this role, Arushi visited various local sites of
the partner NGOs in India where poverty and inequality
affect the most vulnerable. Arushi was especially glad to
be able to work with two of her local partner NGOs since
they offer help to women and children, the most vulnerable
populations that she had encountered earlier in her legal
career. In this opportunity she could fulfill her goal of
working on the ground on identifying possible interventions
targeting poverty related issues as well as basic human
rights. One of the NGOs partners helps children from the
slum areas who have been abusers of drug and domestic
I ask Arushi how she feels about what the MPP
did for her, and she does not hide her enthusiasm. She
is confident, the MPP opened many opportunities for her.
Perhaps that is what many of us hoped the MPP or the
PhD would be, a “window of opportunity” to enter the
world of public policy work. And so Arushi can confirm to
any aspiring MPPer that the masters is the right move if
you want to expand your career path. When chatting
with Arushi about her experiences one feels inspired. She
reminds us of the unique and unforgettable opportunity
we had as students in Maastricht, of the significant lessons
learned, and the many friends and colleagues we gained.
The Cube | 17

Alumni
Committee
The Cube | 18

The Alumni Committee offers a chance
to directly be involved in the events
and communication of the Alumni
Office - organising career resources
for MERIT alumni by MERIT alumni. The
projects are implemented under the
following subcommittees:
1. Connecting Careers
2. Life-long Learning
3. Alumni Research
This year, MERIT alumni from different
areas of expertise from 18 countries
will be working together on projects to
strengthen the network and improve
collaborations with UNU-MERIT.

Connecting Careers
Focused on strengthening career opportunities through alumni
networking
The coffee chat initiative of the connecting careers subcommittee aims to create
informal networking spaces for alumni to connect with one another and students. An
alumn is invited to share their career journey after MERIT followed by an open space
for discussion for all career related queries relevant to their sector.
Bernard Nikaj
Adjunct Professor (IR) at RIT Kosovo
co-leading Alumni Research
Ezequiel Tacsir
Research Manager at Accenture
co-leading Alumni Research
Emily Olson
Program Assistant at Macfadden
supporting Alumni Research
Mauricio Bohl
Researcher at IDOS Bonn
supporting Alumni Research
Davide Manzoni
MPP Candidate at UNU-MERIT
supporting Alumni Research
Life Long Learning
Focused on creating post-MERIT learning opportunities for alumni through
lectures and workshops
The subcommittee aims to create practical, hands-on, and skill-based learning
opportunities for alumni and students. The goal is to create a set of workshops with more
experienced alumni who will share this skills training with others for whom it is more
relevant.

Antje Stuvens
MPP Student at UNU-MERIT
leading Connecting Careers
Philip Samji
MPP Student at UNU-MERIT
supporting Connecting Careers
Alumni Research
Focused on building research projects with UNU-MERIT that offer alumni
involvement
This year, the subcommittee wants to support UNU MERIT with moving forward
the research agenda on Comprehensive Innovation for Sustainable Development
(CI4SD). CI4SD has different forms and shapes, making a generalised definition
impossible. Nevertheless, it is crucial to enhance the transferability of the CI
approach and identify factors and circumstances that accelerate and prevent CI4SD.
Concepts, such as policy coherence for sustainable development and systems
thinking could improve our understanding of CI4SD, and the sub-committee aims to
use them to spot transferable factors to foster comprehensive innovation.
Thiago Garcia
Project Lead at Connecting
Cities leading Lifelong Learning
Rajeshwari Malik
Professor at Woxen University
supporting Lifelong Learning
Cristina Mancigotti
Capacity Development Coordinator at
UNU-MERIT supporting Lifelong Learning
Arushi Tangri
Program Coordinator at ConnectAid
Geneva supporting Lifelong Learning
The Cube | 21

Jerome Adjim
Consultant at IFAD
Africa
Regional Ambassadors
Creating a Global MERIT community
We are starting to map our alumni across the world, share stories
that highlight the collective impact of the MERIT Community, and find
collaboration opportunities in our regions.
The regional ambassadors act as a point of contact for strengthening
alumni activities in the respective regions and UNU-MERIT.
Sharon Balthaza
MPP Alumn for The
Kristina Holtrop
Research Fellow at CRHC
for North America
Samia Nour
HoD Economics at Khartoum
University for North Africa
Romina Rojas
Coordinator at Ministry of
Finance Peru for Latin America
Lilia Stubrin
Vice Director at CONICET
Agrentina for Latin America

r
EU
Andreas Reinstaller
Sr. Principal Economist at Austrian
Productivity Board for The EU
UNU
MERIT
Khaled Rajab
Strategic Advisor at ENABEL for
Middle East
Guangyao Zhang
PhD Fellow at UNU-MERIT for
China
Mamun Rashid
Supply Chain Controller at Jord
Oil for Bangladesh & SEA
Rajeshwari Malik
Professor at Woxen University for
India & Neigbouring Countries
oti
for West
Martyn Muchuma
Policy Consultant at Leverage
Inc. for East Africa
Diana Owuor
Audit Associate at Deloitte for
East Africa
The Cube | 23

Amjad Rabi
Alumni Spotlight
Interview by Jairaj Gopalakrishnan

One must do things with
devotion. Being in this field,
your motivation should
not be money or prestige,
but devotion. If one
doesn’t devote themselves
to their work, they lose
themselves in the process!
The Cube | 25

willingness to effectively
provide a gap year to allow
Amjad to follow the course
part time and join back after
his experience with the ILO.
Amjad Rabi is best described as a
multipotentialite: he has held multiple positions,
interests, and has many passions. A social security
economist by profession, he is currently the
Chief Technical Advisor on Social Security for the
International Labour Organization office in Iraq.
He has also worked as an independent consultant
providing advisory services to national governments
on the reform of social security schemes
encompassing themes around abolishing child
marriage, poverty reduction, health insurance and
overall social protection expansion and reform.
He is a passionate teacher and visiting professor,
teaching undergraduate and graduate courses
at Balsillie School of International Affairs, Canada,
Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, Canada,
and Nottingham University, Malaysia campus.
Amjad was part of the 2006-2007 cohort of the
Master of Public Policy and Human Development
at UNU-MERIT. Back then, the master’s only had two
specializations: Social Protection Financing (for a
focus on quantitative analysis) and Social Protection
Design (for a focus on qualitative analysis). Amjad,
with an economics and actuarial background, went
for the Social Protection Financing specialization.
However, Amjad had a non-traditional
experience when pursuing the MPP: During the
masters, he was invited to be part of the Social
Security Department at the ILO in Geneva, and hence
had to interrupt his education. One thing that he
loved about the university was their flexibility and
Amjad is extremely
reminiscent of his days at
Maastricht, stating that the
programme and the city all summed
up to a great learning experience. His
favourite memory of his time at UNU-
MERIT were his discussions with Michael
Cichon, who was the then director of the
ILO’s Social Security Department. Sixteen
years later, he still remembers how the
professors at UNU-MERIT engaged with their students,
not from the perspective of a teacher and student,
but as colleagues, fostering dialogue and discussion,
and allowing for a two-way learning experience.
The most memorable of which were his informal
talks with Michael Cichon during coffee or dinner.
He believes that Michael and his courses at
UNU-MERIT significantly impacted his mindset as
an individual, as well as a professional and teacher.
He recounts that his background in economics and
mathematics had pushed him to think of problems
and solutions as “black” and “white”, but it was
Maastricht and UNU-MERIT that gave him a greater
appreciation of the “grey” area since, according to
him, ”real life experiences mostly lie in the grey.” He
recalls his sleepless nights around the coursework
and assignments, and about the fictional country
of DemoLand (later cohorts would know this as
Maastrichtia), and these assignments are a
great representation of how the world works.
He points out that in a professional
setting, there will be issues with data,
your boss will give you the vaguest
instructions and an unreasonable
timeline, but the graduates of UNU are
better prepared to deal with these
frustrating realities of the workplace
since they practiced in a safe and
guided environment like UNU-MERIT.
The Cube | 26

Since graduating, Amjad has achieved
a multitude of professional accolades and has
worked in many different contexts and countries
like Switzerland, Syria, Jordan, Argentina, Egypt,
Nepal and Malaysia. However, a consistent aspect
of his life has been his priority on maintaining a
balance between his professional ambitions and
his personal responsibilities. Amjad values this
balance immensely and vouches that anyone
can combine two or more careers. Furthermore,
he believes that being part of multiple careers
allows you to learn and gain perspectives from
both paths and use the lessons to develop yourself
holistically. In Amjad’s case, being a consultant, a
UN official as well as an academic has helped him
learn from each of these perspectives, and this
expanded viewpoint has helped him bridge the
gap between these different fields. His work reflects
what UNU-MERIT values – breaking down silos and
working on multifaceted solutions for global issues.
When Amjad was in the programme, the
programme was mostly made of mid-career
professionals coming in to upskill themselves.
While this has been consistent, over the years, the
programme has also welcomed many early career
and immediate graduates into their cohorts. To
this, Amjad says that the programme is a unique
opportunity to build knowledge in multiple different
facets of policy, as well as to become a resilient
individual through a challenging course. However,
for Amjad, mindset and attitude are everything. One
can definitely leapfrog in their career but only with
the right attitude towards the challenges that the
course throws at you. Finally, when Amjad was asked
to provide a motto that he lives by, he asserted “I
have an allergy to cliches. The world is more complex
than words of wisdom.” Nevertheless, he shared that
one must do things with devotion. Being in this field,
your motivation should not be money or prestige,
but devotion. If one doesn’t devote themselves
to their work, they lose themselves in the process!
”In a professional setting, there will
be issues with data, your boss will
give you the vaguest instructions and
an unreasonable timeline, but the
graduates of UNU are better prepared
to deal with these frustrating realities
of the workplace since they practiced
in a safe and guided environment like
UNU-MERIT.”

The Cube | 13
Social Protection Financing Cohort 2001 on their bikes in Maastricht
Hello
from the
Retirement Side!
Michiel Van de Auwera
Senior Financial Sector Specialtist
(Social Security)
Asian Development Bank
“I am encouraged to see how the programme has evolved and to know that m
makers with a social protection foundation are being trained by UNU

A few months ago, I turned 60 and started my
retirement. I have now the luxury to take a back
seat. The last year in the office, I was involved
in the preparation of a new SP operational plan
for the Asian Development Bank. Most striking
during the preparations was the interest from
the colleagues from different sectors, transport,
energy, urban (besides health and education),
to have social protection components included
in their projects to ensure that everyone is able
to access and benefit from infrastructure and
related services. Besides there is the growing
awareness of the importance of social protection
in climate change, to allow to better respond
to shocks, but also to support climate change
adaptation. It is clear that there is a growing
need for social protection, but also for more
tailored social protection responses and more
responsive social protection administrations.
Plenty of challenges and work to be done.
L-R: David, Michaell, and Michiel
ore and more policy
-MERIT.”
The Cube | 29

The MPP
Ambassador

Kathleen Hopewell is the 2022-2023 MPP student
ambassador!
As a current MPP student, she serves as a connection
between current students, prospective students,
and anyone who is interested in getting an insight
into what life as an MPPer looks like!
Be sure to follow her on social media and stay
updated about what is going on:
Instagram: @mpp_studentambassador
Facebook: Kathleen Hopewell - MSc Public Policy &
Human Development.
The Cube | 31

The San Fransico COnference
& THE BIRTH OF THE UNITED NATIONS
UN History Series
By Jaime Paredes

Because we benefit from the union of the United Nations provided
each day, it is easy to forget where it started. In this series, we will
share the key moments that led to the formation of the United
Nations and how we experience it today.
When we think of United Nations gatherings, we frequently think of the UN Headquarters
in New York City or Geneva. It is often in those places that important decisions are made
today. What is often forgotten is that the United Nations was born on the shores of the
Pacific Ocean, in the city of San Francisco, USA. It was in San Francisco that during the
final weeks of the Second World War, delegates from fifty nations gathered to create
the UN Charter and the International Court of Justice. Remembering this important
episode in UN history is relevant given the threat of a new global conflict today.
Formally known as the United Nations Conference on International Organization, the San
Francisco Conference lasted roughly two months from May to June of 1945. It remains
today the largest gathering that the United Nations has ever seen. Four sponsoring
nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and the Soviet Union, sponsored
the UN conference to create an international organization capable of preventing a
future global war. The conference as well as the term “United Nations” were an initiative
of American president Franklin D. Roosevelt. The reasons that motivated Roosevelt were
obvious: the League of Nations created by his predecessor had failed to prevent the war.
Unfortunately, Roosevelt never saw his vision for the United Nations materialized, as the
war drew to an end, his health deteriorated and he died in April 1945, days before the
conference was set to begin.
The choice of San Francisco was not a casual one. The city was chosen because it
provided a fairly equal travel time for all the delegates of the represented nations. Not all
nations were invited to the conference. While the conference was being held, the fighting
continued to rage in Europe and the Pacific. Only those nations that had declared war on
the Axis powers prior to the conference were invited. Later, once freedom was restored
in war-torn countries, all nations would be invited to join the UN. In total 850 delegates
arrived in San Francisco, and counting additional staff members, there were around
3500 representatives for the conference. The conference was held at the San Francisco
War Memorial Opera. For the next two months, these representatives would debate and
approve the UN charter. Back then, as it is today, the question of the Security Council
composition and the veto power was a hotly debated topic. At the end, the smaller
nations were not able to overcome the insistence of the sponsoring powers, and the
veto of the permanent members of the Security Council remained. Nevertheless, most
sources agree that the atmosphere at the conference was optimistic and constructive,
and the charter was approved unanimously. Within two years the UN Headquarters in
New York City was completed.
It was in San Francisco that the delegates of the represented nations established
their purpose in the UN charter, the prevention of global conflicts: “We The Peoples
of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the
scourge of war…”. The goal of preventing war was straightforward for nations
that had for years seen destruction and death. Today, with the memory of a
global conflict far in the past, it is important for us to remember that it was peace
that motivated all delegates to create the United Nations. Today the UN Plaza in
the San Francisco Civic Center is a memorial to this crucial episode in history.
In a separate ceremony, the delegates of all the represented nations to the Conference
held a memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Muir Redwood National Forest, in the
coastal hills north of the San Francisco Bay, where they left a plaque among the thousand
year-old redwoods that continue to stand today.
Part II in the next edition of The Cube
The Cube | 33

Updates from Maastricht
Treasure Struck!
This November, engineers were pleasantly surprised when development work in
the Sint Maartenspoort locality led to the discovery of remains of the old fortress
wall. The stones had to ensure that carts and carriages took the passage with
ease without getting stuck against the gate or wall. These remains of the gates
were demolished in the later parts of the 19th century. Currently the sewer
work has been halted until the stones are safely moved to a more permanent
destination. Oh what fun it is to live in a treasure trove of a city!

Carnival is back!
Wait, did it ever stop? Yes, in February of this year the legendary Carnival
celebration returned after a year gap. Although this year the crowds were
smaller than usual, Limburgers and all carnival-loving people returned to the
streets of Maastricht. The last carnival celebrations had happened in 2020,
only days before the pandemic sent the 2019-2020 cohort to remote learning.
At least they celebrated carnival! We are sorry for the 2020-2021 cohort that had
to miss carnival. We hope that our current MPPers and PhD fellows get to enjoy
it this coming February. Just remember to wear a costume like a Limburger!
Helaas Pindakaas!
After 20 years of planning and discussion, the tramline project
connecting Maastricht with Hasselt has been cancelled. The
project was attractive for Maastricht in that it offered a 40-minute
commute into the Belgian city as an alternative to the Liège
route. Recently the project started to face challenges because
it was unable to access the Maastricht city center. Currently
an electric bus alternative has been proposed as replacement.
The Cube | 35

The computationa
The objective of the Computational In
Sustainable Development (CIL) is to tran
policies and governance structures, an
and policymakers to assimilate, ap
The CIL serves as UNU-MERIT’s new
and computational modelling to stre
comprehensive innovation for sustaina
research expertise of the institute, the
and computational models for resear
The Lab’s focus is on the contributio
to understand the impacts of crises
natural disasters, health crises, or clim
and the impact of the “green tra
aims to bring the economy within
ensuring economic and societal pro
Launch Date:
Launch of the
Ukranian Migration Network
The new Lab will be formally launc
launch phase of the Lab, the inau
Lab Research Fellows and Associate
strategy for data analytics, informat
platform design. This strategy will
projects to maximize impact, visib
This project aims to bring together institutions and researchers working
on Ukrainian migration to cooperate on new research, information
dissemination, seminars, funding and more. Given the current ongoing
war in Ukraine and the subsequent displacement of people, the Network
will tackle issues around mobility from and within Ukraine as well as issues
of reception, integration (social, economic, labour, etc.), remittances,
return and reintegration, recovery, development and related topics.
The Network takes a comparative approach when possible to these
issues. Comparison could take the form of comparisons with other forced
migrant groups in Europe (and beyond) and/or comparisons across
receiving countries of Ukrainian migrants. Long-term demographic
perspectives for Ukraine and the rest of Europe will also be researched
and discussed within this network. This project aims to become a key
information source on migration and mobility to, from and within Ukraine.

l innovation Lab
novation Lab on Crises, Transformation and
slate this knowledge into new methods, tools,
d to educate and train students, researchers
ply and implement these new insights.
institutional expertise centre on data, AI
ngthen UNU-MERIT’s strategic agenda on
ble development (CI4SD). Drawing upon the
Lab’s mission is to provide actionable data
ch, education and policy-making on CI4SD.
n of data, AI and computational models
and systemic shocks (caused by conflict,
ate change) on sustainable development
nsformation”. The green transformation
the limits of planetary boundaries while
gress for current and future generations.
hed on Friday, April 21 2023. In the pregural
team of Computational Innovation
s will co-create with UNU-MERIT staff a
ion management and the data analysis
identify and prioritize ideas and initial
ility and partnerships for the institute.
Updates
from
MERIT
The Cube | 37

We want to hear from you
The Cube is a brand new endeavor of UNU-MERIT alumni office,
together with MERIT alumni. We would like to share stories
of and from alumni all across the world. If you have ideas or
suggestions, or want to join the editorial team, reach out to us!
The theme of the next issue will be SDG 2: End Hunger. If you are
an alum working on this issue, or know of one who is, suggest your
nominations to be spotlighted in the magazine! Send nominations
to alumni@merit.unu.edu
The
CUBE
UNU MERIT Alumni Magazine
Written by:
MERIT Alumni Editorial Team
Designed and Published by:
UNU-MERIT Alumni Office
UNU-MERIT
Boschstraat 24
Maastricht, The Netherlands
alumni@merit.unu.edu