Sonia Yeo

1. What kind of work are you doing in Brasilia?

I'm the Chief of Advocacy and Communications at UNICEF Brazil. I lead a team of professionals developing and implementing advocacy strategies on key child rights issues, managing digital channels, engaging youth, building and maintaining partnerships with media and other relevant stakeholders, as well promoting social and behavioral change.

2. Tell us about your career so far and what made you decide to pursue a career in international development cooperation and especially in communications?

Growing up a child of immigrant parents, who left Korea when I was one, moving to Austria for two years before settling in Brazil, I had early exposure to and awareness of my diverse background and became interested in traveling, learning new languages, and getting to know different cultures. At the first opportunity to study abroad in NY, I went to study in Germany for my junior year, majoring in German and International Relations. During my Master's program in International Affairs, I had the opportunity to intern for the United Nations and do a summer internship in Ethiopia for the UN Economic Commission for Africa.  

After graduate school, I worked for the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN as a speechwriter for a few months until I was offered a contract with UNICEF's Division of Communication in NY headquarters to work in communications. Doing research and writing on child rights themes strengthened my desire to go to the field, which took me to Cambodia as a Junior Professional Officer working in Child Protection.

After a memorable experience, I returned to NY to lead a team of communicators on Education and Gender Equality issues and gradually transitioned to what is now the Advocacy Section in the Global Communications and Advocacy Division. While there, I was the focal point of emerging or cross-cutting themes, such as Climate, SDGs, and gender equality, and became the Head of Youth Engagement during a time when the organization started prioritizing youth, and Generation Unlimited was being conceptualized.

When it was time for me to rotate, the opportunity arose for me to work in China as Chief of Communications and Advocacy, where I spent four fascinating years (minus 8 months when I was stranded overseas during the pandemic) of my career. I'm now in a new posting in Brazil doing similar functions, but with much more knowledge and awareness of what is happening, given my personal background.

3. What was the most memorable moment working for UNICEF?

Organizing World Children's Day in China was the most challenging, yet gratifying experience, as the scale and reach are incomparable anywhere else in the world. In the midst of a pandemic, mobilizing dozens of cities to light up in blue, to engage digitally reaching 1.3 billion impressions, and engaging partners, celebrities, and media, was a culmination of a year of work that was both gratifying and memorable.

But more memorable become the small moments of interaction with beneficiaries of our programmes, particularly young people, who despite the most challenging of circumstances, demonstrate resilience and commitment to child rights.

4. Do you have any advice or message for students or professionals who want to work at UNICEF?

While a very cliche advice, it's one that remains true: follow your passion. UNICEF is an amazing organization, but it's a huge bureaucracy with many layers, and it may take time to understand it and find your place in it. So if you're not doing what you're passionate about, it'll be a very tough journey.

Understand what you want to do and what UNICEF does. Sometimes the two won't align. If they do, meet people from the industry who can give you advice or mentor you. Volunteer if possible. Continue to learn and identify how you can add value. Be flexible, keep trying, but also consider starting elsewhere, an NGO, or a sister agency, and then making the jump.

5. Any other questions and answers you would like to add. (e.g. maintaining work and life balance, challenges working in emergencies, motivations, motto in life, etc.)

ALWAYS prioritize your personal life, your health, and your family. We are fortunate that UNICEF is better than many other organizations in supporting work/life balance, but you have to proactively make an effort to maintain it. When you're young and willing, experience in emergencies will be invaluable, so do it while you can, as it could become an unreasonable sacrifice if you have a family.

And life of an international civil servant is not an easy one, especially with a family, and a spouse who also works. The COVID pandemic brought more flexibility for remote work, and that may make it easier for spouses to continue to work remotely, but things may not always work out, and you must be ready to shift gears. But I believe the tradeoff of offering exposure to different cultures and languages for the family has been worth the sacrifices in other areas of our lives. Hopefully, that remains true for the years to come.