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Martin Laffey, Operational Resilience Unit, New York
Having spent time as an army officer in Israel and Palestine during the first Gulf War, and later in Pakistan and Afghanistan during the first Taliban takeover, I knew I wanted to do something different that involved a professional life with international scope.
After roles in the finance industry, commercial aviation and consulting I joined UNICEF in Libya as a Field Security Adviser. Subsequent posts in Afghanistan and Somalia followed where I worked extensively with UNDSS and began to understand the Department¡¯s wider remit and the opportunities it offered to serve the entire UN community. In 2020 I joined UNDSS and became the Chief Security Advisor in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It remains perhaps the most complex security environment on earth, where the situation can change without warning: it took every ounce of my energy and concentration.
I feel extremely lucky to work in UNDSS, I move around the world, interact with locally recruited staff of all nationalities, and have the autonomy to make a real difference. I¡¯m very active in encouraging people from diverse backgrounds to join UNDSS, not just from those we have historically used such as policing or the military. We need more women to join us: they bring a completely different perspective to security and boost the critical thinking of the Department.
The challenges never stop coming in DSS. In early 2021, I was surged into Ukraine where I had the privilege to serve alongside the humanitarians responding to the needs of the Ukrainian people. Having been involved with the Ukraine crisis until February 2023, I am now working to help the Department improve our preparedness for crises globally by establishing the Operational Resilience Unit in New York.
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