UN official wants to return to school<\/p>\n
Hera Diani and Riyadi Suparno, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
If you were an activist dealing with poverty and other problems
\nin developing countries, there would have to be many frustrating
\nthings along the way.<\/p>\n
That is particularly true for UN Assistant Secretary-General
\nHafiz A. Pasha, who, with almost two decades of experience in
\npublic service, has to deal with the same problems over and over.<\/p>\n
However, the obstacles are minute compared to the tedium of
\nworking as bureaucrat in his home country of Pakistan.<\/p>\n
Previous to the work with the UN, Pasha was
\ninvolved in high-level consultation on policy making as a federal
\nminister for financial and economic affairs, deputy chairman of
\nthe Planning Commission, education minister and commerce minister
\nfor three governments.<\/p>\n
\"There is frustration working with the U.N., but the most
\nfrustrating period to me was when I was with the government,\" he
\ntold The Jakarta Post in an interview here on Tuesday, a day
\nprior to the opening of the Asia-Pacific ministerial meeting on
\nMillennium Development Goals (MDGs).<\/p>\n
\"I don't think I was cut out to work in the government. It's
\ntoo bureaucratic, with emphasis on ranks...\"<\/p>\n
Some people, however, criticize the U.N. for being too
\nbureaucratic, which Pasha said was natural as it involved
\ngovernmental systems where a decision must be based on consensus.<\/p>\n
Now also the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
\nassistant administrator and director of the regional bureau for
\nAsia and the Pacific, Pasha said he was \"very happy working with
\nthe U.N. because I believe in the values of it.\"<\/p>\n
Dealing with 37 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, he is
\nexcited to be working in the most dynamic and fastest growing
\nregion in the world.<\/p>\n
He particularly pointed to three countries in the region as
\nhis favorites.<\/p>\n
The first is Malaysia, which is able to maintain its moderate
\nbrand of Islam, while maintaining a strong economy.<\/p>\n
The second is Vietnam as \"it has leadership with a vision. The
\ncountry has been devastated by war, but has become the most
\ndynamic country, with a mix of different cultures, Chinese,
\nFrench, and so forth,\" said the father of six children.<\/p>\n
\"The third country, which also amazes a lot of people, is
\nChina. China is remarkable.\"<\/p>\n
In terms of his home country, however, there are surely things
\nthat have to be done in reaching the MDGs, which are meant to be
\nachieved within the next 10 years.<\/p>\n
Agreed upon in 2000 by 189 nations, the goals are poverty and
\nhunger eradication, gender equality and women's empowerment,
\nuniversal primary education achievement, reducing child
\nmortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV\/AIDs, malaria
\nand other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and
\ndeveloping a global partnership for development.<\/p>\n
Pasha said that the results had been mixed in his home
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
\"There has been progress in poverty reduction, and there have
\nalso been some improvements. Now, of course, the government is
\nfocusing more on poverty reduction,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said he remained overly concerned with the gender issue as
\nmany countries in Asia still were very male-dominated societies.<\/p>\n
Violence against women is common in deeply conservative
\nPakistan, with hundreds of women killed or brutally disfigured in
\nso-called \"honor\" attacks.<\/p>\n
Recently, the country was in the world's headlines in the case
\nof a public gang rape of a woman by six men, as punishment for
\nher brother's alleged illicit affair with a woman from another
\nfamily.<\/p>\n
The convictions of five of the men, however, were overturned
\nand the sixth reduced to a life sentence, sparking an outcry by
\nhuman rights groups both in Pakistan and internationally.<\/p>\n
Pasha said that to improve gender equality, the first thing to
\ndo would be to promote the education for women.<\/p>\n
\"We need to have immediate cultural and attitude changes in
\nSouth Asia, particularly, in my country. We need to promote
\nappropriate legislation, changing the laws and so on. So there is
\nstill a lot of work that needs to be done.\"<\/p>\n
As much as he is pleased to be working with the international
\nbody, Pasha said it starts to get tiring to be constantly on
\nmissions traveling extensively.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know how many times I have traveled around the world
\nevery year, around five to six times a year. I miss home a lot.
\nEspecially because two of my children are quite young,\" he said,
\nadding that it was difficult to take his family on the trips.<\/p>\n
Now based in New York, so when yearning for home, Pasha takes
\ntime to tune in to Hindi music, watch Hindi movies, or else,
\nwatch a cricket match. Pasha himself was a cricket player in
\nschool.<\/p>\n
He said he would retire as an academic in Pakistan as he
\nstarted as an academic.<\/p>\n
Pasha has an M.A. from Cambridge University in England, and a
\nPhD from Stanford University in California. He was once the vice
\nchancellor and then president of the University of Karachi, as
\nwell as the dean and director of the Karachi's Institute of
\nBusiness Administration.<\/p>\n
\"I will go back to my country, teach and guide PhD or masters
\nof philosophy students ... write books.\"<\/p>\n
He said there were already plans to write books based on his
\ndiary, which he has maintained about different countries he has
\nvisited.<\/p>\n
\"Also, I've had the chance to do a lot of speeches, so I
\ndevelop on that,\" he laughed.<\/p>\n
Teaching, he said, was the most rewarding of professions, as
\nhe meets young people with a thirst for knowledge, and he has an
\nimpact on them.<\/p>\n
There is a saying, that those who cannot do, teach others to
\ndo.<\/p>\n
Pasha laughed hard about it, nodding in agreement, and added
\n\"Well, that's (teaching) just me.\"<\/p>",
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