As the Caribbean is hit by another devastating hurricane season, our colleagues on the front lines continue to play a vital role in coordinating the response. Rogerio Mobilia, Deputy Head of the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is one of them. He reflects on 30 years of humanitarian service with the United Nations.
How did you first start with the UN?
My journey into humanitarian work started almost by chance. With a background in electronic engineering, I was working in Brazil when I was asked if I’d join the UN in Angola — a country I barely knew, just emerging from conflict. I accepted, and six months later found myself in Luanda, helping set up systems to register former soldiers and restore their dignity through ID cards, using technology that now seems ancient.
We even pioneered an early digital photo registration system, maybe the first humanitarian selfie. That experience taught me the power of information and the resilience of people in crisis, shaping the purpose that has guided my career ever since.
What’s changed the most in the last 30 years?
Different contexts always brought different challenges, but information management was always the common denominator, and that has radically changed.
Back then, we had to wear many hats - analyst, trainer, communicator, coordinator. Even when our roles weren’t clearly defined, we knew we had to make things work. Today, information management has evolved into a discipline of its own, underpinning all aspects of decision-making in a crisis.
And what hasn’t changed?
Sadly, conflict still flares — often in places that have suffered for decades. Too many people live with daily uncertainty, displaced or caught in crises they didn’t create.
I saw it when I began, and I still see it today. It’s sobering how many lessons the world has yet to learn and how humanitarians continue to pay too high a price.
But one important thing that hasn’t changed is people’s resilience. Even in the toughest missions I’ve served, I saw children and elders greet us with joy. Those encounters shaped my path.
What are you most proud of?
Staying the course. Working in one organization for 30+ years is rare. For me, it was never about comfort or convenience. It was about believing in OCHA’s mission.
From my very first September with the UN in 1995, when I had the privilege of participating in a peace process that marked the history of a country, to today, mobilizing responses and carrying out the humanitarian mandate, it’s been a long journey, but a worthwhile one.
It’s been 30 years since those first photos in Angola — hard to believe. And yes, I’m happy the blazer still fits.
