Ms Mary Alice Hayward, newly appointed Deputy-Director General of IAEA Management, declared her support as executive sponsor of the newly founded "United Nations - Nuclear Young Generation" (UN-NYG) professional network at a meeting held at IAEA Headquarters, on Wednesday, 22 March 2017.
United Nations-Nuclear Young Generation (UN-NYG) is a UN-internal organization composed of young staff members, ranging from professional staff, junior-professional officers and consultants to interns. All UN-NYG members have different educational and professional backgrounds, as well as nationalities. The club has a two-fold mission: firstly, provide staff with opportunities to enhance their knowledge on nuclear matters, through organisation of events, conferences and seminars with senior experts in the field; secondly, develop a professional network of young (nuclear) professionals working for UN based organisations and assist with their career development, through better communication between generations and mentoring activities. Thus, UN-NYG is promoting the exchange of ideas and experiences within the group, as well as building networks in the field of nuclear science and applications. Of course, UN-NYG also plans to network internationally with other nuclear young generation associations.
During her presentation, Ms Hayward touched upon many issues, including her career and plans for the IAEA, her "passion for nuclear", and how she proposes to support UN-NYG. According to Ms Hayward, receiving mentorship in the early stages of her career was key to her success. Due to this, and the fact the she was a mentor in her previous position at AREVA Inc., Ms Hayward proposes setting up a mentorship programme within the IAEA, through UN-NYG, to enable senior and junior staff to learn from each other. Training and skill development of young staff members should furthermore be pursued, in Ms Hayward’s opinion.
Please go to the UN-NYG website for more information or follow them on Twitter.
