"21st century will be better for children"

Kul Chandra Gautam was appointed  the assistant executive director of the UNICEF recently.  He is the first Nepali to attain the post equivalent to the assistant director general. Since 1973, he has been working in the organisation  in different capacities. He was educated at the Harvard University, Dartmouth and Princeton universities. Born in a remote village of Gulmi district in western Nepal 51 years ago, he has indeed come a long way. Excerpts of the written interview that Gautam provided to Sushma Amatya of The Independent.

Q. Your appointment was received enthusiastically by the Nepali media. How do you feel about it?

A. I feel a mixture of joy, pride and accomplishment combined with a sense of heavy responsibility to live up to the high expectations of my colleagues and compatriots. I want my appointment to help bring honour to Nepal and tangible progress for the world’s children. I feel particularly happy and proud that my appointment to this high position was strictly based on merit and qualification. Normally appointments at this level in the UN system are made on the basis of political considerations, often influenced by lobbying by governments. In my case, there was no lobbying involved by Nepal or any other country. I am therefore free of any political patronage, and will serve the UN with integrity and professionalism.

Q. What could be the reason behind the very small number of Nepalis in the decision making levels in international and private multinational organizations?

A. Until recently the number of Nepalis with high quality education and international exposure has been limited. This restricted the pool from which Nepalis could rise to positions of leadership in international organizations. For example, very few Nepalis have proficiency in international languages other than English. Moreover, the government of Nepal has not always been active and encouraging to try to place Nepalis in senior positions in the UN and other multilateral organizations. Sometimes Nepal has promoted candidates for senior positions not on the basis of merit and competence but on other considerations that may seem understandable in Nepal but are not convincing elsewhere.

However, I am optimistic about the prospects for Nepalis rising to leadership positions in international organizations in the future. There are now many young Nepalis attending top universities in the world and excelling in academic achievement and leadership skills. I would expect a new generation of Nepalis attaining top leadership and managerial positions in international organizations in the years to come. I hope that my own career will have helped break the glass ceiling.

Q. What were the biggest problems you faced during your rise in your career? What did you learn from them?

A. I have been fortunate to have landed in many challenging assignments during my career and have strived to demonstrate that I could rise to the occasion. I was the first resident UNICEF staff member in war-torn Cambodia; the Programme Officer for “non-formal education”, a new discipline at that time, in Indonesia; the youngest UNICEF country Representative in Laos; and also the first UNICEF Representative and the only Nepali in Haiti.  Several of my assignments were in French and Spanish speaking countries where few Nepalis would venture.

I took each of these unique and challenging assignments with excitement and enthusiasm. Two major lessons I have learned and skills I have acquired in my career which have served me well are: (a) to take an optimistic, “can do” approach to life, and (b) always volunteer to do more than what people expect you to do - i.e. taking initiative and going beyond the normal call of duty.

Q. What are your new programmes regarding children and women in Nepal? Will they be receiving more support?

A. UNICEF’s programme of cooperation in Nepal will continue to focus on the protection and promotion of child rights, especially in the areas of primary health care, nutrition, hygiene and sanitation, basic education, and development of progressive social policies. Improving the status of girls and women, preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS and combating trafficking and other forms of children’s exploitation will receive increased attention in the future. We do hope to mobilize greater financial support for UNICEF-supported programmes in the future. But this will depend on showing good results in programmes already assisted by UNICEF in Nepal. As Nepal is not the only poor country in the world, donors are not persuaded to increase their aid simply on the basis of Nepal’s poverty and needs. We need to demonstrate that external support to Nepal is well utilized and produces good results in order to secure greater support.

Q. Do you think UN funds are being utilized well in third world countries, especially in Nepal? What would you say to the general public opinion that UN aided organizations are inefficient and bloated with money?

A. First, it should be recognized that the budgets of the UN as a whole and its various agencies are, in fact, very small. People tend to have an exaggerated perception of the financial resources at the disposal of the UN. The total budget and staff of the UN worldwide is much smaller than those of many provincial and city governments of most countries, and smaller than that of medium size private companies.

As to the efficiency of UN operations, I am sure there is room for improvement, and the situation varies among various agencies. The UN and several of its agencies are subjected to periodic external evaluations and internal audits. These tend to show that, while there is always room for improvement, the accusations of gross mismanagement and inefficiency are rarely justified.

I believe that UN funds are generally well utilized in developing countries, including Nepal. However, many UN supported programmes need to be more critically scrutinized to ensure that they have potential for large scale replication, that they are sustainable beyond the life of an externally funded project, that they help in building national and local capacity, and that they empower the local communities. Some UN funded activities tend to be of greater benefit to the project managers - expatriate experts and their national counterparts - than to any significant number of Nepalis. It behooves us to be vigilant about such projects.

Q. Are the countries that receive UN aid moving towards self-sustainability? What have you observed regarding this in Nepal?

A. There is no simple “yes” or “no” answer to this question. It varies from country to country, and differs by sectors and agencies. Many countries that were once recipients of UN support have now “graduated” or are on the verge of phasing out of UN assistance. These include South Korea, Malaysia, Oman, Turkey, Mexico, etc. Even in countries like Nepal, certain UN supported activities do lead to sustainability. For example, smallpox has been eradicated forever. Polio is on the verge of eradication. The improvements in illiteracy, life expectancy, and coverage of basic education are likely to be sustained.

However, poverty is a very stubborn foe. And it is clear that the incidence of poverty and inequality has worsened in many parts of Nepal. The foundations for Nepal’s development are still very fragile. We are far from reaching a strong self-sustaining development momentum. UN or other external support alone can never ensure sustainability. We Nepalis need to practice sound economic management and good governance to ensure sustainable development.

Q. There never seems to be enough to go around in the face of endless poverty in the third world countries. How do you tackle this seemingly insurmountable problem?

A. Contrary to conventional wisdom, I feel that lack of financial resources is not the principal cause of poverty in developing countries. Many poor countries spend huge sums in military expenditures, to subsidize inefficient state enterprises, do not collect taxes and tolerate leakage of revenues. Better management and good governance can both liberate internal resources and attract external investment. Nepal enjoys the goodwill of many donors and international organizations. If we can demonstrate that investment made in Nepal produces good results, I am confident that we can mobilize the required external resources.

Q. How cooperative is the Nepali government with plans and policies of UNICEF in your observation?

A. The Nepali government is very friendly and cooperative with UNICEF and the policies and priorities of Nepal and UNICEF are fully compatible. Thus there is no problem of cooperation as such. The constraints in the effectiveness of our cooperation tend to be, on the Nepali side, in areas of administrative inefficiency, frequent changes in government and civil service, inadequate budget allocation and disbursement. On the UNICEF side too, I am sure there is room for improvement, as some of UNICEF’s internal processes are not sufficiently responsive to the needs of countries like Nepal and we have had an uneven record in mobilizing the anticipated additional resources.

Q. What remarkable changes have you seen in the global socio-economic trends that affect children and women after UNICEF intervention?

A. For the children of the world, these are the best of times and the worst of times. On the positive side, there is growing recognition throughout the world that children have a right to survival, protection, development and participation. That investment in children is an essential prerequisite for national development is now virtually universally recognized. Unprecedented progress has been made in the well-being of children in our lifetime, in terms of reduction in infant mortality, access to basic education, improved health care, etc. On the other hand, children tend to become the main victims of wars and civil strife. Many odious forms of exploitation of children, ranging from trafficking of girls for commercial sexual exploitation, to using children as combatants in warfare, have disgraced human civilization at the dawn of the twenty-first century.

While the access to the internet and other aspects of globalization are offering some children unprecedented opportunity for expanding their horizons, 35 million children don’t live up to celebrate their fifth birthday and 130 million children never see the inside of a primary school. In Asia, some 70 million women are found “missing” every year, victims of neglect and discrimination. Yet the inexorable march of human civilization is such that, on balance, I am confident that the 21st century will be better for children than any other previous century in history.

Q. How long do you plan to work? What do you see yourself doing after retirement, that is, if you believe in the term?

A. I expect that I will continue to work at the United Nations for another 8 to 10 years. But even after my retirement, I expect to lead a busy and activist life. I suspect that after my retirement, I will devote my life to three sets of activities:

- A lot of independent reading and writing - there is a mountain of books, including some Nepali literature, that I have always wanted to read but had not found the time in my busy career. I would also like to write perhaps a column or articles for some magazines on matters concerning international development issues drawing on my experience and interests.

- Undertake some local community development activities in my village in Gulmi district. I have recently set up a small Trust Fund in memory of my mother. I would like to personally devote some time to the work of this Trust in my village; and devote some time to spiritual pursuits.

Q. How do you unwind? What are your hobbies? What do you believe in?

A. Listening to music, playing tennis, reading for pleasure are my hobbies and ways of unwinding.

As for beliefs, I genuinely believe that I was born to serve humanity - especially the poor and downtrodden. I have been fortunate to have had the platform of UNICEF to serve the world’s underprivileged children. Having had the privilege to serve at the global level, I long for an opportunity to serve in a meaningful way the people of my small native village directly in the future.

Q. What was the most memorable high point in your life, and the low point?

A. Participating in the World Summit for Children in 1990, the largest gathering of world leaders until that time, was perhaps one of my most memorable high points. It was not just attending a high powered meeting, but I was privileged to have had the responsibility for drafting and negotiating a very ambitious Plan of Action that the world leaders endorsed at the Summit. I feel the satisfaction of witnessing the implementation of this Plan of Action throughout the world that is leading to tremendous progress for millions of children. A related high point of my life was the opportunity to work closely with James P. Grant, the former Executive Director of UNICEF, an inspiring leader whose work and commitment perhaps saved 25 million children and promoted the well-being of millions more.

I cannot think of any particularly enduring low point in my life. Perhaps the genocide in Cambodia, and later Rwanda, and the inability of the international community to prevent them, has left the most indelible mark in my professional life. The death of my mother was perhaps the deepest personal low point.