Women of the Arctic Council: Inga Nyhamar

How did you get into your field of work?

My work in diplomacy simply grew out of my university studies. I majored in political science, and I did what corresponds to a master’s degree today on the negotiations on the ozone layer. The Montreal protocol was a huge success for the environment and for international diplomacy in its time, and I wanted to know what made it happen. I was always very interested in international affairs and worked in my student days as a tour guide in the Palais des Nations in Geneva. So, I was quite primed to apply to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when they did their annual recruitment round. I joined the ministry in August 1991 and I've been in the Norwegian Foreign Service ever since, serving in many different positions and functions at home and abroad.

What drives your professional development and your career?

What motivates me is of course the possibility to change the world! I think a formative experience for everybody of my generation was the fall of the Berlin Wall; the great leap to freedom that took place in Europe at the end of the 1980s. It made me and many others realize that even political structures that seem completely frozen and unchangeable can, in fact, change. Political systems are manmade, they can also be changed by human intervention. And even a single person can make great things happen in cooperation with others. In practical terms, a huge motivator for me entering international relations and diplomacy was the experience of working together with very skilled, knowledgeable and motivated colleagues. Diplomacy is not a one-person show. You may see our political leaders on the news, but they don't work wonders all by themselves. It's a huge cooperative effort, as they themselves would be the first ones to say.

Can you pinpoint a pivotal point in your career or life that has led you to where you are today?

I don't think there’s any one moment which has led me to the position that I have today. One thing follows the other. A good colleague of mine said, “something will always happen,” and that is very true. Also, in such a lifelong career as mine, you change jobs regularly and always have the possibility to learn new things. That is very motivating for me, drawing on all that I have seen and done over the years, and still being a student at the same time.

Being in diplomacy also implies being prepared for the unexpected. The world is a very complicated place, and you can’t always foresee what’s going to happen next year or even next week – you have to be ready to handle whatever comes. What you can be guided by, are values and principles, and the interests of your country. That aspect is more or less constant, and it’s the ground you will build your solutions on.

I’ve very much enjoyed the task that I’ve been given now as Chair of the Arctic Council’s Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG). So many of my interests coincide in that assignment. SDWG has to do with meeting common challenges through international cooperation in the Circumpolar Arctic, on everything from strengthening mental health to preserving Indigenous languages, to finding renewable energy solutions in remote Arctic communities. The work of the SDWG derives from huge, broad challenges in the interface between the natural environment of the north and the people living there, but it translates into practical solutions through all the concrete projects that the Working Group supports. I find that to be very satisfying work.

What are some skills, traits or values you strive to bring to the workplace?

A basic value in diplomacy is cooperation – being able to cooperate with people from different backgrounds, recognizing that the world doesn’t look the same if you’re in another position, in another person’s shoes, but that you can still find common ground.

I also find that the Arctic Council gives particular value to the viewpoints of Indigenous Peoples, not least in the SDWG. It’s an inspiration for me, and also an aspect of the Arctic that I had not known as well before I took up my position with SDWG. I’ve seen in practice how Indigenous Peoples’ Knowledge and expertise bring new perspectives and solutions into the challenges that we are facing.

That also brings me to another issue, the broader development towards inclusiveness in international relations which I have witnessed over my career. Diplomacy was quite recently a men-only business, and the business of men of a certain age and narrowly defined social background to boot. There is much more diversity now. Diversity not only in terms of gender, but also in terms of letting young people into international relations, interacting with civil society, and the diplomats themselves coming from different professional backgrounds too.

What do you think are current challenges and opportunities for women in your career path?

A challenge that remains even today is how to combine professional life and private life. When I joined the service, this was considered a women-only challenge, since supposedly only women worried about making time for their family. Today, this is certainly a challenge that is shared also by my young male colleagues. They have families too, and they want to spend time with them. Allowing for a well-balanced life is difficult enough in our day-to-day work, but in addition to that, diplomats move all the time, living about half their career in their home country, and about half of it abroad moving every three or four years. As any parent will know, children don't like to move. Even if it might sound like interesting experiences come their way, the psychological cost may be very real. It often takes a long time to settle into a new place, new school, new country, and then once they're settled in, you have to move them again. In my view, this is perhaps the biggest challenge of this career.

On the other hand, I have very much enjoyed this life overall. Norway has close to 50 percent women among professional diplomats today, and that certainly shows that once women were finally let into the Foreign Service, they came. So, I think that many opportunities have opened up, and the more open diplomacy that we enjoy today also allows for greater flexibility in how you lead your life. That has certainly enlarged opportunities for everyone.

Do you have a piece of advice for young women who are interested in pursuing a career in your field?

Don't be too shy! You’ll still find a lot of people who will try to ignore you or take credit for your work – all those traditional ways of not letting women be recognized for their worth and what they bring. You should not accept that. Of course, it can be challenging to stand up for yourself. That’s why it’s important to create your own networks and find support among your colleagues so that you stand stronger, also in those more difficult situations. And there's no need to be discouraged. You can do a lot more than you might think. I wish every young woman good luck in in diplomacy. Diplomacy needs someone like you.