Women in international cooperation – how can you manage your international career and "have it all"?

Liliana brings 23 years of experience working in international cooperation. Positions include working as Senior Advisor at the Swiss Executive Director’s Office at the World Bank in Washington, as Private Sector Development Specialist for the IFC, and as Head of the Swiss Contribution Office in Budapest. Her international background is rooted in her family; her father is from India, and she spent a year of her childhood in Brazil. She has always been interested in economic policy issues which led her to pursue a Master in Economics and Political Science as a minor. Today, she lives with her husband, 11-year-old daughter and dog in Biel, Switzerland.

Victoria Martinez always knew she wanted to pursue a career in international cooperation, working for the United Nations. After completing her Master’s degree in political science and Russian literature from the University of Zurich, she did several internships, working for the Estonian MFA in New York, a Tajik NGO in Panjakent, and for the International Criminal Court in The Hague. In 2016, she got a JPO position with OCHA in South Sudan. Today Victoria works as a Humanitarian Affairs Officer for OCHA in Cameroon. She lives with her two young children as a single mother in Yaundee, where she is enjoying the life she has created for herself.