“Everyone loves children but not everyone can provide solutions for them.”

Liliya Lyubomudrova, Communication Assistant, UNICEF Ukraine

Tell us a bit about your background?

I’m currently the youngest person in my team. I joined UNICEF about 7 months ago and I enjoy my work very much. I started my professional life 3 years ago at a small online advertising start-up and since that time I’ve worked in marketing, for a scientific publication and for a fixer for foreign journalists during protests in Kyiv. And finally, I was happy to join UNICEF Ukraine.

What exactly do you do?

My job is to provide as much assistance to my section as possible. I have various tasks: sometimes it’s just dealing with documents, and at other times it’s holding a two-day event engaging tens of children – for example, a football match with vulnerable children, escorting football players to the field before a match.

 

Describe your average working day

When I come to the office, I usually have a list of tasks for the day. But, an urgent issue may arise at any moment so I try to be ready at all times, as we are still getting used to working in unexpected situations. My colleagues and I often order lunch delivery to save time and it’s another pleasant moment of the day. I’ve never spent a day communicating only with a computer; there are always discussions or brain-storming, solving problems together with colleagues from program and operations. At the end of the day, I usually complete my non-urgent tasks as a dessert before leaving work.

 

What are the most satisfying parts of your job?  

Meeting children. When you play with a displaced kid during an event or look into a child’s eyes when he/she receives an educational gift from UNICEF, you finally understand why you have been putting forward so much effort. It’s the final accomplishment of each employee’s goal.

 

What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?

As I’m still new to UNICEF, I feel excited about everything. The Communication section always needs to react promptly. We have to run really fast to march at the same pace with our audience, learning all the innovations, trends, ideas and being true millennials ourselves to reach our goals. But it is both challenge and advantage – it makes me grow and develop.

 

What’s your best UNICEF experience/memory?

The first event with kids I took part in. It included going to the IDP camp, gathering children, taking them to the stadium, chaperoning them before the football match and, of course, listening to their stories.

What’s one of the biggest risks you've ever taken in your life?

It’s definitely not work-related, but a long time ago I traveled through Ukraine alone with just a bit more than $1 in my wallet.

 

How do you spend your free time?

It would take a book for me to write an answer for this question. Among all things, I read UNICEF-EU Child Rights Toolkit as a lullaby before going to sleep.

 

What advice would you give others who are seeking a similar job as yours?

I heard many people mention a preconception “Loving children is enough for working in UNICEF” which, in my opinion, is wrong. Our job is a great responsibility and includes many problems to solve every day, which require both tolerance and keenness. Everyone loves children but not everyone can provide solutions for them.

 

Who do you look towards for inspiration?  

My senior colleagues from Communication at UNICEF Ukraine are wonderful role models for me. Thanks to them, I learn how to be persistent, show initiative, and be open-minded and proactive. Sometimes I just wonder where they get their energy and ideas from. That’s probably why UNICEF is the leading child rights organization – it’s all about its inspiring staff.

 

My colleagues don’t know that I’m… an incurable night-person.