FORUM (Spotlight Weekly)

‘Nepal Has Made Good Progress In The Last Decades’

— Kul Chandra Gautam

Newly appointed Deputy Director General at UNICEF, KUL CHANDRA GAUTAM is the first Nepali national to hold the high office in the United Nations System. Born in Gulmi district in Western Nepal, Gautam joined the UNICEF as an Assistant Program Officer in Cambodia in 1973. A post graduate from Harvard University, Gautam replied to a set of questions posed by SPOTLIGHT over e-mail. Follows excerpts :

How do you feel about being appointed as Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF - the highest position held by a Nepali national in the UN system?

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.

What will be your priorities in the new position?

UNICEF has a glorious record of significant achievements for the world's children. I will strive to ensure that those achievements are sustained and new ground is broken for further progress. Cementing strong partnership with developing countries, securing higher level of donor contribution for priority programmes, and cultivating alliances with civil society organizations in favour of child rights will be my key priorities. Enhancing international donor support and solidarity for least developed countries, like Nepal, other countries in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa will be another area of my focus.

How would you like to recall your 26 year long association with UNICEF? What was your most challenging assignment so far and how did you deal with that?

I have been fortunate to have had an opportunity to serve in a variety of challenging and exciting assignments in countries ranging from Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, India to Haiti in the Caribbean and UNICEF's head office in New York. Working in French and Spanish speaking countries where few Nepalis tread, was particularly exciting. Perhaps the most challenging of my assignments was being the point man for UNICEF at the World Summit for Children in 1990, the largest gathering of world leaders in history until that time. I was responsible for drafting and negotiating the Plan of Action that came out of the Summit. It contained very bold and ambitious goals for child development which are now being implemented throughout the world.

As Nepal has one of the highest maternal and child death rates in the world, what do you think should the Nepali government focus on in the days to come?

While there is much to improve in reducing maternal and child deaths in Nepal, we should also note that good progress has been made in the past decades. Infant mortality has come down from 172 in 1971 to just 72 in 1998. Access to clean drinking water has increased from less than 20 percent of Nepal's villages two decades ago to almost 70 percent at present. Enrolment of girls in primary school has increased from less than 5 percent in 1960 to 60 percent this year. These are significant achievements for a poor country with a per capita income of only around $200 per year. Further progress in human development will require greater priority to basic social services, particularly basic education. Nepal's female literacy rate is only 20 percent, one of the lowest in the world. No country in the world has achieved higher level of development with such an appalling record in education and literacy. Furthermore, better governance is a vital requirement to mobilize our own self-help efforts and to better utilize external support.

Does UNICEF have any specific plans to support national programmes, say in emergency-like basis in a country like Nepal where the life expectancy of a child is still one of the lowest in the world at the advent of the new century?

Given its poor socio-economic indicators, Nepal ranks among countries to which UNICEF allocates high priority and significant resources. Nepal also continues to enjoy much sympathy and solidarity of the international donor community. We can mobilize even more resources for Nepal not by treating it as an emergency case but by showing that increased investment in Nepal produces good results for its people. So the challenge is to better utilize existing resources to secure more support.