Mr. Kul Chandra Gautam is a former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. He has extensive experience in international development cooperation, humanitarian assistance, human rights and diplomacy.
Currently, Mr. Gautam is informally advising Nepal's senior political and civil society leadership on the peace process, consolidation of democracy and socio-economic development. Along with other prominent Nepali citizens, he leads a Rollback Violence Campaign. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Citizens Bank International, Member/Advisor of the Arogya Foundation, the Madan Pustakalaya Foundation, the Rato Bangla Educational Foundation, the Nepal Public Health Foundation, and as a Rotarian in Nepal.
Internationally, Mr. Gautam is Chair of the Planning Committee of the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children (Japan), Member/Advisor of the Boards of Global Action for Children (USA), Rugmark Foundation USA, the Micronutrient Initiative (Canada), and the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund (USA).
In his long and distinguished career with the United Nations, spanning over three decades, Mr. Gautam had extensive dealings with leaders of governments, donor agencies, multi-lateral organizations, NGOs and the corporate sector in policy dialogue, advocacy and resource mobilization.
As a senior UNICEF official, Mr. Gautam provided leadership for strategic planning, policy guidance and programme management. He coordinated inter-agency collaboration and public-private partnerships for child rights and human development among UN agencies, donors and civil society organizations.
At the global level, Mr. Gautam dealt with the highest levels of policy making at the United Nations, including the General Assembly, Security Council, ECOSOC and the UNICEF Executive Board. And he oversaw UNICEF cooperation in over 150 developing countries.
Mr. Gautam has visited over 100 countries on official missions involving field visits as well as dealings with local and national leaders in Africa, Asia, Latin America, CEE/CIS and the OECD countries. He has served UNICEF in positions of increasing responsibility and leadership in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Haiti, India and Thailand. He also served as Chief for Latin America and the Caribbean, as Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, and as Director for Planning and Programme at UNICEF Headquarters.
Mr. Gautam was the key senior UNICEF officer responsible for drafting the Declaration and Plan of Action of the 1990 World Summit for Children, the largest gathering of world leaders in history until that time. In 2002 he led the organization of another major United Nations conference - the Special Session of the General Assembly on Children - attended by 70 world leaders and thousands of child rights activists and civil society leaders, including celebrities and Nobel Prize Laureates.
Mr. Gautam served as Chair or member of the Boards of several international development organizations and public-private partnerships, including the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC), Inter-faith Council for Ethics Education, etc. He is the winner of several awards, including the Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award - 2008, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Social Justice Award for Lifetime Achievement given by Dartmouth College, USA in 2009.
Mr. Gautam was the highest-ranking Nepali in the UN system. During the decade-long civil war, he worked hard informally to secure the support of the UN and other key players to promote peace and reconciliation in Nepal. He spoke forcefully against violence, impunity and violation of human rights by all parties in the conflict.
Mr. Gautam continues to speak out and write extensively on the peace process, democracy, human rights and post-conflict reconstruction and development in Nepal. Personally, he has supported several local development activities in his native village and district, especially in the areas of health and education, child development and women's empowerment.
Mr. Gautam, a citizen of Nepal, received his higher education in international relations and development economics at Dartmouth College, Princeton University, and Harvard University in the United States of America. Born in December 1949, Mr. Gautam is married and has a daughter and a son.
