In February 2026, the Guided Tours Unit welcomed members of the Hospitality Committee for United Nations Delegations for a focused briefing on UN peacekeeping. Participants included members of the Diplomatic Spouse Career Group, which offers programming to support diplomatic spouses in developing their careers and amplifying their experience at the UN while they are in New York. Many diplomatic spouses place their own professional paths on hold while accompanying their partners to postings abroad, making opportunities for engagement and professional growth especially meaningful.
The session was led by Rula Hinedi, Chief of the Guided Tours Unit and former Public Information Officer with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. Drawing on her field experience, Rula spoke about communities displaced by conflict and the challenging conditions faced by UN personnel deployed to support them. She reflected on the resilience she witnessed, noting how striking it is to see people adapt in difficult circumstances, whether families forced from their homes or staff adjusting to life in container based camps with limited resources.
Participants then embarked on a guided virtual reality journey through a UN mission setting in South Sudan, offering an immersive 360° view of camp life and its surrounding environment.
Joanna Jachacy, a former Polish diplomat, highlighted the value of firsthand insight.
“Hearing directly from Rula about her experience in South Sudan was incredibly insightful,” she said.
For Joanna, the briefing highlighted realities that those working in the field might not have anticipated.
“Seeing the living conditions – containers instead of hotels, communities without reliable access to water, and the layout of mission camps – can be surprising. The VR experience gives people a sense of what to expect before they deploy,” she added. She emphasized that briefings like these are essential both for preparing future mission staff and for helping the general public understand the human dimension of peacekeeping.
Ashley Bernhard, representing the Hospitality Committee for United Nations Delegations, described the session as “incredibly informative”, noting that the immersive component “really brings the programme to life in that three-dimensional way.”
By combining lived experience, open dialogue and innovative technology, the Guided Tours Unit continues to create opportunities for UN affiliated communities and the public to engage deeply with peacekeeping realities, connecting Headquarters audiences with the human stories behind missions in the field.
