A family listens to an activist from an OSCE-supported Women's Resource Centre during a voter education campaign in Rumi, Tajikistan, February 2010. (NGO Oksana)
United Nations Diplomat from Tajikistan Shares her Story with Utah Valley University Students
Shabnam Abdolova (fourth from left) with students of Utah Valley University (from left to right):
Travis Zirker, John McClure, Reynaldo Benitez, Christina Lowe-Loumeau, and Matt Joseph.
On Thursday, March 24, 2011, students of Utah Valley University enjoyed the unique opportunity of hearing the stories and experience of a young woman, currently working with the United Nations in Sudan, who amazingly enough has a lot in common with many of the students.
Shabnam Mullo-Abdolova is originally from the town of Khorog, which is located high in the mountains of Tajikistan, a small mountainous country in Central Asia that shares its southern border with Afghanistan. She is the oldest child in a family of four children, three of which are currently living abroad. When asked how her parents fell about her international career, she mentioned “of course they miss me and would prefer that I were home with them, but they support me in my career and achieving my personal goals.” Shabnam started her career as an English teacher and has since served in various state and international organizations in Tajikistan, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and at their main office in Vienna Austria.
Since 2006, she has been employed with the United Nations and currently serves as Human Resources officer for the United Nation’s Mine Action Office in Sudan, the largest UN Mine Action Office clearing land mines. When Shabnam was asked what motivated her to start an international career, she stated that it had been a desire of hers ever since she was a little child, struggling with her family to survive the civil war that Tajikistan experienced from 1992 to 1997. She was grateful to the different international organizations that had stepped in to provide food and shelter to the devastated areas, and decided that when she grew up, she too wanted to help and serve people, to help bring peace to the world. She mentioned that the two biggest contributors were the United Nations and the Aga Khan Foundation.
The first time Shabnam went abroad was in 1996 when she was selected for her academic excellence to come as an exchange student to the United States. After receiving her degrees in Tajikistan and the United Kingdom, she returned to her home country, where she started to teach English to young children. She soon became involved with the Mountain Society Development Programme, a project of the Aga Khan Foundation. This foundation focused mainly on the underdeveloped areas, such as her remote mountainous area. Shabnam stated that “it could take two days, by car, to get from one remote area to another”. Their main focus has been the improvement of infrastructure, including bridges and roadways which help interconnect those regions.
Following her work with OSCE, she was offered a position with the United Nations in 2006. A few weeks after having received the offer for employment, Shabnam was notified that her first assignment would be in Sudan, a country that had been suffering from civil strife and war. She was a bit skeptical at first about going to Sudan, but decided to go and give it a try. “I love Sudan. I love the people. At first I was not sure that I wanted to go to Sudan, but I am very glad I did.”
Shabanam’s office is located in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, a rather peaceful and quiet city. She mentioned that often her mother would call worried from news that she had heard about Sudan, and she would have to calm her mother down and explain to her that she was safe, and that the incidents she heard about were hundreds of kilometers away. Sahbanam was always safe.
Shabanam’s advice to students was to figure out what they want to do with their lives, and then to fully pursue it, and to not give up on their dreams.
Shabanam was visiting her sister Nilufar Sherzod in Orem , Utah, who is currently studying at Utah Valley University. Shabnam has helped sponsor her sister’s education, as well as her brother’s in Canada. Her presentation was a part of the monthly-held seminar to promote goals and priorities of the “Women of the Mountains” international conference hosted by UVU on March 8-9, 2011 under the gender and sustainable mountain development agenda of the United Nations- related Mountain Partnership. It was co-hosted by the UVU Foreign Affairs, Russian, and Sustainable Mountain Development clubs.
