On My Terms

About the Book

This book is the story of a girl born in Oslo, Norway, in the middle of World War II. Karin Sham Poo came from a working-class family, married early, and had a daughter but still managed to have an extraordinary career—first in her home country of Norway and then internationally. The book tracks how this became possible, what and who influenced her decisions, and how she became the person she is. After her first marriage ended in divorce, Sham Poo found happiness again with a man who continues to be enormously supportive.

About the Author

Karin Sham Poo was born in Oslo, Norway, in 1943. She served as senior vice president in Christiania Bank, Oslo, Norway, from 1982 to 1985, after holding several other managerial positions with the bank, which she joined in 1962. Ms. Sham Poo became that bank’s first woman in a managerial position in 1970. She also held managerial positions in other banks in Oslo, Norway, from 1973 to 1979. Ms. Sham Poo was recruited to UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) in 1985 as its comptroller and became its deputy executive director in 1987, a position she held until she retired at the end of 2004. Karin Sham Poo served as interim special representative of the UN secretary general for children and armed conflict in 2005 at the undersecretary general level. After retirement, she was UNICEF’s special envoy to the Caribbean until the end of 2010. Ms. Sham Poo has been active in numerous professional, civic, and political organizations, both in Oslo, Norway, and New York, United States of America. Throughout her life, Ms. Sham Poo has been an advocate for women’s rights and gender equality and equity. Karin Sham Poo is married to Stanley Sham Poo, and they live in New York and Trinidad and Tobago.