Shahida
Azfar, Unicef Representative in Bangladesh
Ms.
Shahida Azfar is currently the UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh. Prior
to coming to Bangladesh on 14th August 1998, Ms. Azfar was
UNICEF’s Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Region in
Nairobi, Kenya from 1995 to 1998.
Ms.
Azfar joined UNICEF in 1975 as a National Officer in Pakistan. She
subsequently worked at UNICEF’s New York Headquarters as a Program
Officer in the Africa Section, and then as UNICEF Representative in
Namibia from January 1991 to July 1992. After that, Ms. Azfar was seconded
to direct the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Country Support Team
for South and West Asia, in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Ms.
Azfar, a citizen of Pakistan, was born in July 1945. She studied
Psychology & English Literature at Kinnaaird College for Women in
Lahore, Pakistan and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1964. She also studied
at the University of Punjab in Lahore where she received a Master of Arts
degree in Sociology in 1966 with a gold medal for securing first position
at the University. Prior to
joining UNICEF, Ms. Azfar held the position of Research Assistant with the
Centre for International Affairs at Harvard University, in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, USA.
Q:
Can
you tell us some of your background that suggested this role in the UN?
My
parents were keen for education so that I could have a career that I
wanted and needed. Since my mother was highly educated before partition
time, she was very keen for me to be a career person. My aunt, Begum
Zinnat Rashid Ahmed, who was educated at Cambridge, was awarded Queen
Victoria during pre-partition time. After Partition, she founded the
Central Government College in Karachi that was a renowned educational
Institution. She was a great inspiration for me. My sister-in-law, Shirin
Ikram, studied at Cambridge and practiced law in the Pakistan Supreme
Court. Shirin joined the UN
and was also a source of inspiration for me. It is really because of her
that I joined the UN.
Q:
Do
you believe that there have been adequate opportunities for Women to
advance in the UN system? If you were to advise our daughters or young
professional friends about how to “get into” this profession, what
would be your three top suggestions?
The
UN system has been an affirmative action employer right from the beginning
for qualified educated women. Preference is often given to highly
qualified women. The top three suggestions are:
1.
Appropriate academic subjects of study and experiences for the job.
2.
Young professional internship programs are offered by the UN
3.
Apart from English, one more UN language is helpful.
Q:
What
have been your biggest challenges in other assignments?
Every
assignment of mine has had its own challenges. The biggest challenge was
in 1989 in Namibia to help out the refugees who came into that newly
independent country in 1990. My assignment was to set up a functioning
health care system and social services for children. This included
training of adequate staff, setting up the infrastructure, and providing
exposure to the latest development thinking in the world, since Namibia’s
indigenous people were in a totally isolated system.
Q:
What
have been some of the accomplishment of the UNICEF staff where you worked?
Namibia
was one of my biggest accomplishments in 1992 when the minister of Health
told me (“You can go now and we are on top of it”) I was honored by
this remark. I have set up emergency preparedness and response for
educational support to Rwanda after the 1994 genocide where half a million
people were killed. A system was setup for tracing mission children. and
providing for their education. The
other biggest challenge was to deal with arsenic contamination of ground
water that is set to be the biggest environmental emergency facing
Bangladesh today. I have pioneered many innovative programs that have been
used as models in others parts of the world for people to understand and
apply.
Q:
Do
you have several goals for work here in Bangladesh, which can be shared
with UNWA?
My
basic goals include educating children, addressing the issue of child
labor, improving birth registration, and giving vocational training to
adolescent girls. Helping the acid victims is another concern. The goal is
to help young girls value their education. UNICEF continues to invest in
survival, protection, and development of children by helping societies
recognize the rights of children.
Q:
How
can the women in UNWA become involved in your work as volunteers?
Yes, UNWA members can assist in the vaccine drive for eradication of polio [by administering the oral doses]. They can work in urban areas by joining NGO’s like BRAC, Grameen.