Siddharth Chatterjee the UN Resident Coordinator with CS Eugene Wamalwa, Heads of Missions from the United Nations Mission and other development partners visited the Frontier Counties Development Council Counties with a view of leveraging on opportunities considering geographic proximities in addressing shared developmental challenges in the marginalized Counties. Photo Credit- West Pokot County, February 2020



Happy New Year, Kenya.



Several milestones in my personal and professional life have made Kenya a cherished place for me. I started my UNICEF career in Rumbek, South Sudan in June 2000, and my rest and recuperation breaks were in Nairobi. In fact Kenya was the first African country I had ever visited and, frankly, it was love at first sight.



I came back in November 2004 to serve with UNICEF Somalia based out of Nairobi, and in 2006 I got married in Kenya. My son who was 3 years old in 2014, has had his formative years growing up in Kenya, and considers himself Kenyan.



The following year I left to serve in Iraq, and I wondered if I would get an opportunity to return to Kenya. Seven years later, it happened: in April 2014 I came back as the United Nations Population Fund Representative (UNFPA) Representative and in August 2016, I was selected to lead the UN Country Team in Kenya as the UN Resident Coordinator and the UNDP Resident Representative. &nbsp;



Over the years, my bond with the country has been forged through jubilation and the shared suffering of tragedy. I have rejoiced at improvements in many health indicators in counties such as Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Marsabit, Isiolo and Lamu where an unconscionable number of women used to die in childbirth, but where great progress has been made. I have also mourned in horror at the number of lives lost to terror attacks, the <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20141202164658-xlpzv/">murder of 36 quarry workers by terrorists in Mandera county</a> (I was in Mandera the same day), the slaughter of innocent students in Garissa University and the dastardly attack at <a href="https://youtu.be/29Ml0evxrCc">Nairobi’s DusitD2 hotel</a>.



The end of my tenure as UN Resident Coordinator to Kenya falls on 13 January 2021, with new experiences and challenges awaiting me as I prepare to take up my next position as the United Nations Resident Coordinator (designate) to China.&nbsp;



This is not the end of my relationship with Kenya, but rather an opportunity to strengthen my ties with the country, and for sharing my knowledge and first hand insights about its great potential. It is also a chance to entrench South-South-Cooperation, a crucial part of the answer to Kenya’s, and more broadly Africa’s, unique opportunities to accelerate growth.



I realize that Kenya still faces formidable challenges, and the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to deepen this even more. Devolution has brought considerable resources and autonomy to counties, and yet lack of capacity, weak financial and regulatory oversight, will continue to hinder efforts to combat the asymmetry of wealth and human prosperity which will be a major obstacle to Kenya’s rise.



I am delighted with the country’s progress towards its Vision 2030 aspirations and the SDGs goals. School enrolment rates are up; more families are accessing maternal and child health services; social, economic and political opportunities for women have increased; major inroads have been made against child marriage and FGM, with President Kenyatta personally leading on this.



My experiences as the UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya have reiterated that by prioritizing investments in women and youth, Africa’s real potential can be unleashed, and I am proud of the support on this that we have been able to provide through the entire UN Kenya Country Team.



By 2030 agri-business will be US$ 1 trillion worth in Africa. Almost two-thirds of Kenya’s population is below the age of 30, and the future of food production rests in their hands. Kenya’s economy is anchored in agriculture, where 70% of the population earns its livelihood.



In most parts of the world, crop yields have grown ahead of population increases, helping to free them from hunger and famine, but not in Africa. We looked for creative and sustainable ways to harness Kenya’s strong internet penetration to exploit information technology that adds value and strengthens the economic appeal of agri-business for young people and creates digital jobs as well.



President Kenyatta&nbsp;<a href="https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/2019/11/african-leaders-have-a-duty-to-empower-the-youth-president-kenyatta/">has noted</a> that “the current generation of young people has the potential of expanding Africa’s productive workforce, promoting entrepreneurship and becoming genuine instruments of change to reverse the devastation caused by climate change.”&nbsp;



Africa’s demographic boom has been hailed as its biggest promise for transforming the continent’s economic and social outcomes, but only if the right investments are made to prepare its youthful population for tomorrow’s world. <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/current-affairs/2020/08/03/with-proper-investment-in-youth-kenyas-potential-for-progress-is-unlimited/">Kenya launched the Generation Unlimited initiative spearheaded by the Head of State</a>, and can serve as a blueprint to harness the demographic dividend that Africa’s youth represent.



Women’s empowerment was our other key pursuit, with special emphasis on access to sexual and reproductive health information and services.&nbsp; Without this, Kenya’s population is likely to continue its rapid increase, putting pressure on land and water resources, threatening livelihoods, food security, and straining already weak health systems. Gains made in women’s sexual reproductive health and rights took several steps backward in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic<a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/opinion/2020/04/29/why-reproductive-rights-must-be-a-critical-part-of-our-arsenal-to-fight-pandemics/">.&nbsp;Reproductive rights must be a critical part of our arsenal to fight future pandemics.</a>



It is in Kenya also that I witnessed creative ways of overcoming bureaucracy. Large organisations are often accused of responding too late or with too little in times of crisis, and my tenure saw many. Drought, floods and the worst locust invasion in 70 years, plus the Covid-19 pandemic, all upended much hard-earned progress. As a team however, we went beyond individual UN agency mandates in partnership with the Government of Kenya to quickly establish rapid responses to these emergencies, reducing the socio-economic impact, earning the confidence of the Government and overturning the common perception of the UN as an unwieldy bureaucracy.



The Government’s leadership was meritorious on all counts and that is why <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/opinion/2020/09/30/the-triple-humanitarian-crisis-and-why-kenya-deserves-an-a-in-its-response/">I have stated unequivocally why Kenya deserves an A+ for its response to the triple humanitarian crisis.</a>



I am proud to have been part of many milestones in the partnership between both levels of the Government of Kenya and the UN, and to count on the unfailing support of the leadership of Kenya at all levels of Government. &nbsp;Kenya’s potential is boundless, and the country now offers stronger platforms for new shared-value investments than ever before.



I also express my sincere appreciation to the entire UN family in Kenya, the development partners, our donors and well-wishers and civil society partners and, most of all, the wonderful people of Kenya.&nbsp;



With a firm belief in a common destiny, I intend to keep telling the story of the emerging powerhouse that is Kenya.



My wife, son and I carry Kenya in our hearts.



Thank you for everything. Your generosity, love and friendship is nonpareil.



God Bless, Kenya.



Asante, Kenya, na kwaheri hadi tutakapo kutana tena!

Siddharth Chatterjee with CS Eugene Wamalwa, Heads of Missions from the United Nations Mission and other development partners visited the Frontier Counties Development Council Counties with a view of leveraging on opportunities considering geographic proximities in addressing shared developmental challenges in the marginalized Counties. Photo Credit- West Pokot County, February 2020

Frontier-Counties

This Is Not A Goodbye, Kenya

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Women-UN-Peacekeeping-Mission.2-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-46609" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Women-UN-Peacekeeping-Mission.2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Women-UN-Peacekeeping-Mission.2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Women-UN-Peacekeeping-Mission.2-600x338.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Women-UN-Peacekeeping-Mission.2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Women-UN-Peacekeeping-Mission.2.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Female peacekeepers are great assets to the UN. A Rwandan police officer is greeted warmly by women and children while on patrol in Gao, Mali.Photo: UN Photo/Marco Dormino</figcaption></figure>



“The vision and promise of the United Nations is that food, healthcare, water and sanitation, education, decent work and social security are not commodities for sale to those who can afford them, but basic human rights to which we are all entitled.” Those were the poignant words of the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2020-07-18/secretary-generals-nelson-mandela-lecture-%E2%80%9Ctackling-the-inequality-pandemic-new-social-contract-for-new-era%E2%80%9D-delivered">in a hard hitting speech on 18 July 2020 to mark Mandela Day</a>.



For every staff of the United Nations family the Mandela speech by Mr. Guterres was powerful and inspirational. Speaking about the scourge of inequality, he said, “while we are all floating on the same sea, it’s clear that some are in superyachts while others are clinging to the drifting debris.”



For me, the United Nations (UN) is personal. Coming from a family rendered refugees due to the partition of India in 1947, as a child I benefited from its immunization programmes- <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/09/qa-we-need-a-decisive-win-against-polio/">I actually survived polio</a>. The UN’s work with the Government of India helped to eradicate smallpox and polio in my home country, where these diseases used to take a huge toll on lives and livelihoods.



Although forged in the crucible of wars and crippling ideological rivalries between East and West, the United Nations has since managed to convince the world of the need to compromise and to take each other&#8217;s views into account and to listen to others while facing humanity’s enduring challenges. That this has been achieved in just 75 years is remarkable.&nbsp;



In the narrative of the period when humanity made great social, cultural, and economic advances, the UN takes centre stage.&nbsp; For more than two decades during my service in the UN system, I have been part of this story and am convinced that the UN still matters, perhaps now more than ever.



While the calamitous cost of two World Wars and subsequent ideological fault-lines convinced humankind of the need for a body like the UN, the challenges facing us today remain just as formidable.&nbsp; As the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, it does not take much to upend not only individual lives, but entire societies and economies. There are numerous reasons for people to feel insecure in today’s world.&nbsp;



Among these are strong indications of resurgent nationalism and warning signs of ethnic and religious isolationism that not only threaten states, communities and individuals. Combined with humanitarian and climate disasters, these challenges have been articulated and framed for action as the Sustainable Development Goals that the UN is spearheading everywhere in the world.



Just as diplomacy was the basis for the establishment of the UN, <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20161101105441-eli9d/">my experience in the frontlines of combat operations</a> when I served in the Indian Army convinced me that there is a better way to solve conflicts.&nbsp; My early career in the UN was spent in countries almost defined by war and instability, such as Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Somalia.&nbsp; The images of men, women, and children driven from their homes by murder, rape, and the burning down of schools and homes is seared in my mind.



I am proud to have been part of the United Nations response to complex humanitarian challenges.  In Indonesia, for example, an innovation by the UN called a “school-in-a-box” helped children return to their regular school routine as quickly as possible during the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2946600.stm">conflict in Aceh when schools were being burned down</a>. We helped maintain immunization, reproductive health services, education as well as nutrition services, working in difficult and life-threatening situations in Darfur, Somalia, and Iraq. We <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j964XqRWfNI">demobilized child soldiers in the midst of a conflict in South Sudan</a>.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="605" height="334" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Child-soldiers.png" alt="" class="wp-image-46614" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Child-soldiers.png 605w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Child-soldiers-300x166.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Child-soldiers-600x331.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 605px) 100vw, 605px" /><figcaption>Child soldiers of the Sudan People&#8217;s Liberation Army march away after surrendering their weapons during a demobilization ceremony at the army barracks in Malou, South Sudan, in Feb. 25, 2001. Under an agreement with UNICEF, the SPLA demobilized 3551 child soldiers aged between eight and 18. UNICEF airlifted them away from combat zones to safe havens in Rumbek, South Sudan. Photo- UNICEF/OLS</figcaption></figure>



With the Coronavirus pandemic raging, <a href="https://unsdg.un.org/latest/stories/9-ways-un-teams-around-world-are-fighting-covid-19">UN country teams all over the world</a> are working tirelessly with their respective host governments to flatten the curve.



In various countries today, internecine conflicts, hunger, and disease continue to take a tragic toll, especially among the world&#8217;s children. The malignant neglect of our global environment threatens all of us.&nbsp; The UN retains unprecedented respect, acceptance, and mobilizing capacity to rally member states to act together to solve these problems.



The nature of today’s challenges compels us towards integration and collaboration. Humankind must find new ways to work together more effectively in pursuit of our collective interests and to think anew about how our institutions of international cooperation can be strengthened.



The UN has enabled many member states to embark on transformational journeys; life expectancy is rising, jobs being created, and people lifted out of poverty. Yet in many others, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, progress is fragile and unequal. The UN constantly seeking new models that are inclusive and sustainable, and is opening up new opportunities to harness big data, technology and innovation to <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/01/kenya-leapfrogging-4-sdgs-building-bridges-silicon-savannah-silicon-valley/">leapfrog development, through ground breaking partnerships with the private sector</a>.&nbsp;



Many factors have sometimes stymied the United Nations’ work. These range from reliability of funding to the difficulties of achieving consensus between diverse member states on complex topics. Such factors have sometimes made us slow and limited our impact.



Antonio Guterres has said that “worldwide consultation process around the 75th anniversary of the United Nations has made clear that people want a global governance system that delivers for them”.&nbsp; Therefore the bold reforms underway, led by Mr Guterres, will make the organization more nimble, better equipped and prepared to deal with contemporary challenges.



<a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/01/united-nations-reforms-ideas-actions/">UN country teams are adapting to new realities in their programmes</a>, reflecting the shifts (such as peacekeeping to peace-building) through social and economic development support and humanitarian relief.



In Kenya, the country’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta is spearheading the charge to eradicate female genital mutilation supported by the United Nations. I have seen firsthand the reduction in maternal and infant mortality due to complications at childbirth, universal access to primary education and better a collective push to achieve universal health coverage.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1140" height="582" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FGM.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-46613" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FGM.jpg 1140w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FGM-300x153.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FGM-600x306.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FGM-1024x523.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FGM-768x392.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px" /><figcaption>Aisha Hussein and her team pose for a picture during the youth caravan in Isiolo as part of a joint UNFPA-UNICEF initiative to eradicate FGM. UNICEF Kenya</figcaption></figure>



I continue to see the promise of peace and prosperity for the most vulnerable &nbsp;marginalized that comes with the UN’s work, such as the Kenya Uganda cross border initiative to promote peace and development in the Karamoja area, mired in rivalry over scant resources and experiencing the debilitating impact of climate change. <a href="https://medium.com/@amina_mohammed/finding-common-ground-to-fight-climate-change-baa911e5ee1c">Amina Mohammed the UN Deputy Secretary General said</a>, “It’s exciting to see the new ways in which governments, communities and partners are coming together with UN teams to mobilize across borders especially when it comes to taking climate action”.



COVID-19 has confirmed that the era of national problems is receding fast, by revealing national and global fragilities to an invisible virus. The pandemic is a stark reminder of the need for cooperation across borders, sectors and generations.



Today we can see that most challenges are global and interconnected, and can only be tackled through global action coordinated through global institutions.



At the signing of the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/sections/history-united-nations-charter/1945-san-francisco-conference/index.html">United Nations Charter, in San Francisco in 1945</a>, the President of the United States of America, Harry Truman said, “If we fail to use it, we shall betray all those who have died so that we might meet here in freedom and safety to create it. If we seek to use it selfishly &#8211; for the advantage of any one nation or any small group of nations — we shall be equally guilty of that betrayal”.



Those farsighted leaders who founded the United Nations 75 years ago gave us the momentum to propel humanity to greater security and prosperity. Today, the UN continues to be a sound investment, a real beacon of hope.



Siddharth Chatterjee is the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya. He has served in various parts of the world with UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, UNOPS, UN Peacekeeping and the Red Cross Movement. A decorated Special Forces veteran, he is an alumnus of Princeton University. Follow him on twitter-<a href="https://twitter.com/sidchat1?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@sidchat1</a>

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This Is Not A Goodbye, Kenya

The United Nations At 75 Remains The World’s Moral Compass