Encouraging progress in development occurs worldwide, with more than a thousand million people lifted out of extreme poverty since 1990 and significant gains made in health, education, and other areas that contribute to overall well-being.
The international development sector reaches out to communities that have less capacity to adapt to the challenges of globalization, modernization, industrialization, and development to empower people and advance well-being by addressing the issues in their societies.
Contributions to international development programs support the expansion of peaceful and sustainable civilizations. It’s no longer possible, if it ever were, for a country to determine its future alone.
Direct help is of the essence, and the more help, the better.
If you’re looking forward to confronting inequality and fighting for the underdog, studying international development is the right choice for you.
International development offers countless opportunities, such as communications, advocacy, consulting, policy, fundraising, and so forth.
If you’re struggling to land your first job, though you have plenty of passion, you have little experience and completely irrelevant qualifications.
Here are some skills you can develop to help succeed in the workplace:
- Various Abilities That Relate To Technology
Information technology is increasingly involved in the work of global development organizations as it helps create a world where open, inclusive, secure, and rights-respecting ecosystems authorize people everywhere to thrive.
Key areas of focus include but aren’t limited to digital inclusion, digital finance, cybersecurity, geospatial technology and analytics, and emerging technologies (i.e., blockchain technology).
Interestingly enough, sustainable development can benefit from Ethereum’s ability to build trust among participants and do away with intermediaries.
Several factors affect the Ethereum price USD and, consequently, the cost of smart contract development, including the average gas price and the number of people involved in the process.
International development is aimed at professionals versed in app development, artificial intelligence, mobile banking, and so on.
A good professional is always growing and seeking to upskill, so improve your technical know-how by looking up tutorials on YouTube and using other reference materials suitable for a self-motivated learner.
Mentorship can help career growth and transform you into a valuable player, which is why you must find an experienced professional to help you learn new skills relevant to international development.
Regrettably, it’s not always an option, so if you can’t find anyone to fill that role, you can learn from trial and error, but it takes time and effort, possibly leading to mishaps.
- Fluency In Two Or More Languages
There are six official languages in the United Nations: English, Chinese, Arabic, French, Russian, and Spanish.
Nevertheless, the number of Portuguese-speaking communities is on the rise, and by learning the language, you can do more than improve your linguistic proficiency; you can enhance your cognitive abilities and improve your problem-solving skills.
We live in a multilingual world, and it’s paramount for anyone who wants to succeed professionally (or academically) to learn a foreign language.
Languages overlap and collide, so develop the much-needed skills for a multicultural society, namely the ability to understand, express, and interpret concepts, feelings, thoughts, facts, and opinions in various societal and cultural contexts.
Learning requires some kind of support.
Not all learners have to take the same route due to the diversity of ever-changing needs, so find your learning style to tailor the experience in a way that best fits your needs.
The main learning styles are visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic.
If you’re a visual learner, you’ll find it helpful to use mnemonics that involve visual images to remember new words and phrases.
You can also try color-coding your notes to better organize information and internalize it. Citizens of the 21st century require new skills and strategies, such as translanguaging and code-switching, that empower them to use their full linguistic resources.
- Conflict Resolution And Management
Conflict can be addressed through management or resolution – or a combination of both. Armed conflict is one of the main challenges to international development, often leading to involuntary migration, the arrival/departure of refugees, the exodus of capital, and the destruction of infrastructure. If the direct consequences aren’t bad enough, the indirect consequences are much worse.
Examples include but aren’t limited to poor education, undernourishment, low life expectancy, and high infant mortality rates. Not surprisingly, the field of conflict resolution is undergoing a moment of deep introspection, as the established approaches and tools are insufficient in the current context.
- Valuable Leadership Skills
Leadership skills are critical for driving change, so you must know how to guide, support, and inspire others so they can thrive in a shifting environment. It’s up to you to promote and protect human rights, peace and development, economic and social progress, gender equality, etc., and sometimes, this means telling others not just what they want to hear but also what they need to know. You must acknowledge the authority of host communities and treat everyone with respect, whether peers, supervisors, stakeholders, or external factors. Some of the most important leadership skills are:
- Culture transformation
- Visionary thinking
- Emotional intelligence
- Resilience and adaptability
- Confidence and optimism
Being a leader is hard, as you need to juggle personalities, question motivation, provide mentorship, and continue learning. Leadership has nothing to do with the title you hold.
- Excellent Writing Skills
Last, but certainly not least, writing well is vital for a successful global development professional. Though modern workplaces have become more casual as far as communication is concerned, maintaining professionalism across email correspondence or other types of written exchanges is still important. You’ll often have to complete tasks such as writing reports, strategy planning, or putting together a grant application, and mastering writing can help enormously. Writing becomes satisfying when it’s simple, specific, surprising, stirring, seductive, smart, and narrative. Indeed, writing is the secondary expression in a project, but it opens new ways for the audience to connect with it.
The Takeaway
In pursuing a career in international development, you can strengthen the rule of law, protect the environment, and grow the economy of areas in desperate need. To advance, you need a blend of technical expertise and a diverse skill set, so you should better get started.
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