NEWS
2025 DIPS Career Event Held Jointly with ICU UN Association Alumni Chapter
Update: May 21, 2025
Since ICU launched Diplomatic and International Public Service Program (DIPS) in April 2019, an anniversary event has been held every spring. This year's DIPS event was to be the last such event and thus was held jointly with the newly established Alumni Chapter named United Nations Association (or UN Association) for the purpose of making its clear linkage to DIPS.
They shared their respective career paths and then explained the mission of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the attractive career of a diplomat, entry exams, 2-3 years of official study, job description at MOFA as well as at various duty stations. All three panelists had similar background of having been active in extracurricular activities at ICU aside from studies, continued onto the University of Tokyo Graduate school, before taking the diplomatic exam. During the Q&A, issues touched on included life-career balance involving challenges of regular transfers, flextime, differences between career and specialized positions. The panel concluded with the message of diplomatic career as a rewarding career in the multi-polarized, challenging world.
The afternoon session in a hybrid mode started with the presentation by Mr. Shoichi Midoro, Deputy Director of the Recruitment Center for International Organization at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). He explained of various job categories and levels, expertise required within the UN system, as well as its recruitment system. He emphasized the importance of academic and professional background to match specific individual post to be considered as an immediate asset for the organization. He also elaborated on the JPO system supported by MOFA and where to find information related to JPO application and related information including personal experiences of selective JPOs.
From left: 〈morning guest〉Mr. Keita Takayanagi, MOFA Human Resources, career position in English; Mr. Takushi Sasada, Principal Deputy Director, MOFA First Middle East Division, Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau, career position specialized in Arabic; Mr. Yu Uchida, Japanese Embassy of Bolivia, specialist position in Spanish 〈afternoon guest〉Mr. Shoichi Midoro, Deputy Director of the Recruitment Center for International Organization at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
A panel of four international civil servants who were ICU-graduates followed, co-moderated by DIPS Advisor Hiroko Morita and Professor Naoko Obi. The panelists were Ms. Naoe Yakiya, Director, UN Women Japan Liaison Office; Ms. Ritsu Nacken, Chief of Mission, IOM Tokyo; Ms. Sawako Kanetaka, Corporate Partnership Manager, UNICEF; and Ms. Yukiko Takei, Media Assistant at UNU. In an interactive discussion, the panelists respectively shared their motivation to work at specific UN organization, tips for preparing application documents and interviews to market their strengths, job descriptions, the rewarding and challenging experiences, work-life balance issues in terms of coordinating with partner's career, children's education, elderly care, importance of maintaining physical and mental health and managing stress. Internships were highly recommended as a message to students.
The early evening part started with a slide show of the Fiji UN Seminar presented by selective participated students, followed by a welcoming address by President Iwakiri to celebrate the newly launched UN Association Alumni Chapter. After the introduction of the Steering Committee, the UN officials, OBs, other alumna and students interacted socially.