Elvira Kalmurzaeva: Junior Public Officer 2015

Despite of my friends skeptical opinion about public sector, I decided to apply for JPO position and get familiar with the work of the government body from inside. After several months, I was selected and started my work at the International Organizations and Security Department; however, my duty station was at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry.
During these three months, I prepared analytical notes on international organizations’ activities, ongoing processes and conducted several researches on migration, foreign terrorist fighters, cooperation of the SCO and OSCE in security sector. In addition, I assisted the Foreign Policy Analysis Center of the Diplomatic Academy.
The location of my duty station allowed me to come up with various initiatives starting with an open lecture to Master Programme students of the Diplomatic Academy about the OSCE’s role in regional security and launched a pilot project for Bishkek university students a “Youth Research Group”.
The aim of the open lecture was to introduce students of the Diplomatic Academy with the OSCE’s main activities in the global and local levels. Together with the OSCE Centre in Bishkek we informed about current projects and career opportunities in the Organization. In January, under the Foreign Policy Analysis Center I launched Youth Research Group for 15 students in three dimensions: Political Science, Economy and Sociology. Within this Research Group students will learn how to conduct academic research; different local scholars will train and exchange their expertise. So far, the OSCE Academy’s Alumni Network was helpful in preliminary trainings.
Moreover, during my JPO, as OSCE Youth Ambassador I attended the OSCE Ministerial Council in Belgrade, where I met Kyrgyzstan’s MFA Erlan Abdyldaev, Serbian MFA Ivica Dacic, Austrian Ambassador, OSCE Special Representative on Ukraine Martin Sajdik, and other high level officials. I was representing the youth vision on security issues, such as radicalization and extremism. I witnessed how negotiations and OSCE procedures are implemented in practice.
Thanks to this opportunity and my supervisor at the Ministry I mastered my critical reading and writing skills. I learned how to find necessary information, draft official documentation, and improve my time management as well as communication skills. As for future plans, I want to continue to work with Youth Research Group and actively engage in policy making.

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