Ian Howie (OW1963) has recently launched an autobiographical account of his career as a young graduate from Australia who spent his life working as a United Nations official. Titled ‘Reflections on a United Nations’ Career – An Insider’s Account,’ and published by Springer, the book is more than a first-person record. It is a critical, indispensable debriefing of a UN insider’s experience, following the life of a development practitioner for more than three decades within the global aid sector. The book opens the reader up to an exclusive, international scene, particularly across population security. It also touches on the themes of personal and professional rewards versus costs.
The majority of Ian's time with the United Nations was spent as a career official. Included were multi-year assignments as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representative to China (with additional responsibilities for Mongolia and North Korea), Viet Nam, Ghana, Rwanda and Papua New Guinea. Ian also spent seven years at UN Headquarters in New York, following his appointment as Director, Division of Human Resources. There are chapters on each of these appointments in his book.
Prior to UNFPA Ian served as a Chief Technical Adviser with the International Labour Organisation, the ILO and an agency of the UN. Here he managed primary health care projects in rural Bangladesh, in the plantation sector of Sri Lanka, and in the industrial estates of Kenya and the slums of Nairobi. Before joining the UN, Ian spent several years in the South Pacific working as a university lecturer, a trade union official and as a ministerial adviser.
Ian has also been the recipient of numerous national awards including Distinguished Service medals from Viet Nam, China and Mongolia, and a presidential citation from Ghana. Currently, Ian is President of the United Nations Association of Australia Victoria Division, President of the Australasian Centre for Human Rights and Health and on the board of MSI Asia and the Pacific.
Since Ian's retirement from the UN, and in recognition of his years working in the field of international development, he has been appointed an Adjunct Professor of International Studies at RMIT University (Melbourne) and an Associate Professor at the Nossal Centre, University of Melbourne.
