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Time to Lead | Sossi Tatikyan - Freedom House Project Coordinator, Armenia

"I was involved in security sector reform in post-conflict Timor-Leste with a focus on institution-building. I then spent four and a half years in the Central African Republic where I worked during all stages of the civil war"

Meet  Sossi Tatikyan who works as the Freedom House Project Coordinator in Armenia. Sossi is one impressive leader that made it into the Senior Women Talent Pipeline (SWTP) in a previous intake. In this blog, she writes that she was not simply following the role of a traditional diplomat but was proactively initiating policy-shaping.

My career began with a decade in the Armenian Foreign Ministry, where I was not simply following the role of a traditional diplomat but was proactively initiating policy-shaping. For example, while overseeing Armenia-NATO relations, I worked on developing relationships that led to Armenia becoming an active and engaged NATO partner country and participating in peacekeeping operations in Kosovo. Furthermore, I worked with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), focusing on institution-building and consulting on the development and implementation of the Kosovo security sector.

This was followed by three years in the UN Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), where I was involved in security sector reform in post-conflict Timor-Leste with a focus on institution-building. I then spent four and a half years in the Central African Republic where I worked during all stages of the civil war, including breakout, escalation, transition, and aftermath. I dealt with the security sector reform in conflict prevention, crisis management, stabilization, transition, and post-conflict stages. As part of this work, I led efforts related to the development of national security policy, strategy and legislation, institution- and capacity-building, defense and police reform.

After a similar role in the UN Office to the African Union and as an EU contractor in the transitional Gambia, I repatriate to my homeland Armenia where I switched to other aspects of good governance as a Programme Coordinator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) parliamentary development project.

I am currently serving as an American Freedom House Project Coordinator in Armenia during a very difficult time for my country, which is in transition after a revolution, as well as the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, aimed at advancing democracy and human rights, and building resilience in the face of challenges.

Learn more and apply to the SWTP
This article was developed in partnership with the United Nations and serves to increase the dissemination and visibility of the Senior Women Talent Pipeline Call for Nominations.

There is no cost associated with submitting nominations and neither the United Nations nor Impactpool charges a fee at any stage of the process.