I joined the IAEA in 1983. Prior to coming to Austria, I had lived in various parts of the world. My father’s profession took me to Egypt, Aden, and Zimbabwe, eventually ending up in Zambia. During these assignments I had spent time in England where I received a Diploma in commercial studies from the Portsmouth College of Technology.

On arriving in Austria, I immediately inquired about job prospects at UNIDO and the IAEA. I was lucky! I did not have to wait long. Within a week I was offered a position at both organisations and decided that the IAEA job sounded more interesting than that of UNIDO. my first job was in the Department of Technical Co-operation. I was given an office and told that my supervisor would be arriving from the United States a week later - both of us truly new to the international environment! My job was extremely exciting and challenging. As a team, we evaluated all technical co-operation projects from start to finish.

My second job was as Secretary to the Director of Budget and Finance but this did not last long as in 1991, the Gulf War had just finished and an Action Team was being set up in the IAEA Secretariat. My first supervisor at the Agency was part of this team and asked me whether I would be interested in joining him in setting up an Action Team office. This was probably the most challenging job I had ever had. We were in daily contact with the United Nations, New York, Bahrain and Baghdad and various experts from all over the world. I also travelled with the teams to Iraq.

In 1995, I applied for and obtained my present job as Departmental Administrative Officer in the Department of Safeguards. This job is extremely rewarding and satisfaction is derived from the sense of achievement one gets when successfully solving problems, assisting colleagues in administrative matters and generally interacting with staff members from all Departments, of all nationalities and at all levels.

I am the departmental focal point for gender issues and one of my main tasks in this capacity is to focus on the recruitment of female professional and technical staff and the development of a network to attract qualified female candidates for Safeguards positions. The Department also plans to develop a roster of professional women and a systematic outreach programme aimed at women in physics, chemistry and other related technical fields. Active expansion and encouragement of training, rotation and family support efforts will continue as in the past. Female participation will be encouraged in the Safeguards training programme for junior professionals from developing countries. All in all, we hope to address gender concerns within the Department and seek solutions.

I enjoy playing golf, visiting our house in the south of France, being a mother to two wonderful sons, and being a wife to a Frenchman [who is also part of the UN family] and generally enjoying the various activities Vienna has to offer. I also enjoy sharing thoughts and ideas with friends and colleagues from different parts of the world and learning about their cultures. In short, Vienna has a lot to offer and I personally look forward to what future challenges might lay ahead at the IAEA.