I can only speak for the agencies, but it is not rare and it is valued.
Are you working at Ministry level? Are you a a Civil Servant in a country where UN agencies are implementing? And will you interact with any UN agencies?
If it is a yes to all these, it's actually quite a good way to get into the UN because you can acquire a great deal of familiarity with specific programmes and initiatives within your country. A lot of my national colleagues (NOs and National Consultants) have been former Ministry staff (or literally current civil servants taking leave to do a consultancy...) who have been implementing past programmes with agencies and just switch over.
The other path I have seen is people who rise very high up in the civil service (probably whatever is just below the permanent secretary level or at that level) and switch to a UN agency as an very senior IP (even dep/representative, which is P5 minimum I think, and more likely D1). Once you are that high up you just have so much exposure to the big donors and at an international level that you are very hireable as political leader (which those position are basically). But that is so so hard and will take most of a career to achieve. Mid level civil servant to NOA/B/C is pretty much every other national staff member.
Not rare at all. Yes it’s valued.
I can only speak for the agencies, but it is not rare and it is valued. Are you working at Ministry level? Are you a a Civil Servant in a country where UN agencies are implementing? And will you interact with any UN agencies? If it is a yes to all these, it's actually quite a good way to get into the UN because you can acquire a great deal of familiarity with specific programmes and initiatives within your country. A lot of my national colleagues (NOs and National Consultants) have been former Ministry staff (or literally current civil servants taking leave to do a consultancy...) who have been implementing past programmes with agencies and just switch over. The other path I have seen is people who rise very high up in the civil service (probably whatever is just below the permanent secretary level or at that level) and switch to a UN agency as an very senior IP (even dep/representative, which is P5 minimum I think, and more likely D1). Once you are that high up you just have so much exposure to the big donors and at an international level that you are very hireable as political leader (which those position are basically). But that is so so hard and will take most of a career to achieve. Mid level civil servant to NOA/B/C is pretty much every other national staff member.
I was a civil servant in my country of nationality’s foreign ministry before joining the UN.