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Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 April 1999 Issue No. 423 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 April 1999 Issue No. 423
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Interview Profile Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters
Ismail Serageldin:
Standing on merit
Profile by Amira Howeidy
This could be Federico Mayor's successor. He is the independent candidate for the post of UNESCO's director-general. He has received unprecedented endorsement from 31 Nobel laureates. He can write and answer questions at the same time. But will he be elected?
Ismail Serageldin, in his own words, is, or rather has to be, multi-tasked. The moment we sat down, he started writing, looking very absorbed. Deceived by what appeared to be his preoccupation with something other than my questions, I decided to stretch my legs, relax and enjoy the spring sun in the garden while he finished his work. But without lifting his eyes from the paper, Serageldin simply informed me that he was "waiting". "I was waiting for you to finish," I protested. With a sincere laugh, he shot back: "I'm used to doing two things at the same time."
Obviously. There is also the fact that Serageldin heads both the Global Water Partnership (GWP) and the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century. In fact, when we met, he was participating actively in a water conference in Egypt -- at the same time, during his lunch break, he gave me the time to talk to him.
But of course, this brief outline doesn't quite sum him up. These days at least, he is in the limelight as an independent candidate for the post of director-general of UNESCO -- in other words, as the successor of Federico Mayor, who will complete his second and final term this year. In an unprecedented vote of confidence, his candidature is backed by a long and impressive list of the world's intellectuals.
UNESCO campaign aside, Serageldin, now 55, boasts a long list of impressive job titles. In hierarchical order: he is vice-president of the World Bank for Special Programmes (since March 1998); chairman of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) since 1994; and chairman of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP)-- a microfinance programme. He also heads or belongs to a number of advisory committees for academic research, scientific and international institutions.
But then, it is campaigning for UNESCO chairmanship that occupies top priority for him at the moment. "Naturally I see it as very important to get elected. Otherwise, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing right now," he says in a matter-of-fact way.
So what is he doing? "I'm speaking to you, among other things." He bursts out laughing. Now very serious, Serageldin adds: "Actually, I am taking time out from other things to explain to as many people as I can reach what I have been doing. I'm doing it on my own time-- my vacation time and free hours, till 2.00am every night. After attending to my regular duties, I am exerting considerable effort in trying to convince a number of people that yes, I do want this job. I want it because I profoundly and passionately believe in this institution and what it stands for." Now that he's talking UNESCO, his zeal has been switched on and an unstoppable Serageldin pours out the electoral rhetoric.
"I am profoundly moved by article 1 of the constitution of UNESCO. It's a marvelous mandate. When you look at the challenges the world is facing, on one hand you have the currents of globalisation, which challenge us with the face of change -- of the unimaginable. There is the scientific explosion. Then there's the Internet, trade, capital markets are moving at a billion dollars a day. These factors, at the same time, are accompanied by the emerging assertion of cultural specificity in each area where we want to celebrate our creative diversity and also recognise the universals that unite us in our common humanity."
He moves on to the challenges UNESCO faces in the quality of education that will be provided for the hundreds of millions of young people coming into the education system in the very near future. On top of that, he argues, another three billion people are about to be born on this planet, and almost all of them will be in the developing countries of Africa and Asia.
Another immense challenge is the revolution in biology, "as profound as the revolution witnessed in physics during the first half of the century when [our understanding of things varied from] cosmology to atomic power." This, he says, is going to happen with the genetic revolution, ultimately raising ethical, bio-safety and intellectual property issues: who has the right to patent genes? Will a close net of people control everything, while the majority are deprived of the benefits? He demands: "Can we ensure that the benefits of the new science will actually go to the poor, humanity, future generations, to the protection of the environment? Or will they just benefit the rich?"
"If I was looking for an easier job, I wouldn't be seeking these challenges. UNESCO is the platform from which one can address these kinds of issues"
Another of Serageldin's pet topics is the "culture of peace", which, to him, means that civic values, human rights and respect for others, for women and children, can find their way into the education system. "My entire life, if you will, has been a preparation for dealing with these issues, which constitute a challenge for UNESCO." It must be quite a tough job. "Yes," he agrees simply. "If I was looking for an easier job, I wouldn't be seeking these challenges. UNESCO is the platform from which one can address these kinds of issues. That's the place to do it, and that's what I want to do -- communicate that, tell that to people."
As I begin to refer to his past achievements, based on a CV from his website, Serageldin gives it a quick glance and asks: "This is from my website?" Before I can open my mouth, he has whipped out a pen and is scribbling swiftly, muttering: "This is way old." He takes immediate action. "Can you call these guys and tell them?" he asks his assistant as he busily updates the CV, adding three honourary degrees to the existing seven. The result is an array of doctorates in sociology, agriculture of science, international affairs, natural resources and economics, from the universities of Bucharest, Melbourne, Punjab and the CNAM in France. The list goes on for quite a long time.
This fascination with culture and his impressive academic achievements are only natural, though; after all, he was brought up in a household that prized education and culture. His maternal grandfather was renowned gynaecologist Ali Ibrahim Pasha, who played a pivotal role in the development of Cairo University and contributed to reviving interest in Islamic art. Laila Ibrahim -- Serageldin's mother -- is also a well-known and highly respected scholar of Islamic art and architecture. On his father's side, the Serageldins are known for their active involvement in politics since the monarchy.
Serageldin himself graduated from Cairo University's Faculty of Engineering, department of architecture. Inspired by his strong interest in social issues from a very young age, however, he soon shifted from architecture to urban planning, trying to understand the urban fabric: why do cities suffer from certain problems? How can we deal with problems like poverty and low-income housing?
Having obtained a scholarship to study at Harvard University, Serageldin chose to study regional planning, and obtained his MRP (master's degree in regional planning). Trying to understand how cities grow, and what problems they have, he became interested in developmental economics. But, as he was about to receive his doctorate in economics, he stopped short: he felt just about everything he had learned about economics was wrong. "I told my professor this because I realised that development is about people, not about money. And I think that if you could, with a magic wand, remove the capital constraint from developing countries, they would still remain less developed. On the other hand, Europe after the war, with an injection of cash under the Marshall Plan, reaped rice from the ashes because the quality of its human resources is very high." Others would have just written the dissertation and got it over with. Not Serageldin. He registered in the School of Education as well, and wrote his dissertation on the contribution of education to development.
Meanwhile, to support himself and his family, he worked in a consultancy firm dealing with urban problems in the US. After completing his studies, he continued to work on problems of urban poverty and housing. "At the time, I wanted to get some international exposure and work in UNESCO before returning to Egypt," he recalls. But in an ironic twist, his professor advised him to take up a job in the World Bank -- advice he followed, very reluctantly, in 1972.
It wasn't what he could have wished for, at least at first. The Education and Human Resources department where he worked focused only on technical higher education, not on basic education or gender issues. Serageldin was one of those who fought fervently for a change in mandate and way of thinking. He also made up his mind to leave the World Bank. But in 1973, the then president of the World Bank, Robert MacNamara, made a fundamental speech in Nairobi, declaring that the World Bank would dedicate itself to the twin objectives of development and economic growth. His passionate words moved Serageldin: words like "poverty is a condition beneath any definition of human dignity." He then held a meeting with his staff and asked them to implement this vision and turn the institution around. Serageldin was hooked. He decided to stay on at the Bank. MacNamara kept his word, and integrated rural development and urban projects into the Bank's programme of action. He introduced issues of population, health and nutrition onto the agenda. Most importantly, he focused on Africa.
Two years later, Serageldin became a division chief for technical assistance and special studies at the World Bank. For an entire decade, he worked on problems of education, producing a number of studies on literacy in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In the '80s, he shifted focus, to urban projects in Africa. He also went back to dealing with gender issues and environment.
Following the Rio Earth Summit, Serageldin was asked by the president of the World Bank to turn the issue of environmentally sustainable development into reality. For this purpose, the post of vice-president for environmentally and socially sustainable development was created. Serageldin was appointed to it in '93. In '98, he became the vice-president for special programmes, and is focusing on issues close to his heart through the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest, the Consultative Group on Agricultural Research, and the Consultative Group on Water. His mandate is to promote the integration of culture in the Bank's development paradigm, and to support the Bank's member countries in preserving their history, culture and identity.
"I am very proud that, in this period, the World Bank moved from a situation where most people in the world considered it part of the problem, to a situation where most people consider it part of the solution," he states. Serageldin has also been actively involved in other fields: the culture of science and environmental science, notably, which brought him into the issue of molecular genetics. He proudly states that he reads and writes intensively. His bewildering range of interests did hint at that, it is true. But even by exacting standards, he is prolific: so far, he has written over 200 articles and research papers, edited and co-edited about 35 books. Among his most recent publications are Nurturing Development and Rural Well-Being: from Vision to Action. His most recent is a work on bio-technology and bio-safety.
Serageldin's contribution, however, has not been limited to areas of development, environment and other social issues affecting contemporary society. He tends to quote T S Eliot and Shakespeare in the most unexpected places: in Liberating the Arab Mind, say, or Toward the Millennium. He smiles modestly: he has written and published a monograph on Shakespeare, with a foreword by Nigerian literature Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka. Oh, of course. Is there anything this man is not good at?
"What I had to say about Shakespeare had to do with gender issues, race and humanism," he remarks. A great believer in the "modernity of Shakespeare", Serageldin explains he is referring to contemporaneity: "Modern, as in being with us today, although it was written 400 years ago. I didn't use the word contemporaneity -- which is a very heavy word, I explained that in a footnote. I replaced it with modernity."
This leads us, quite smoothly, to his "close affinity and connection with culture". For three terms of three years each, Serageldin served on the steering committee of the Agha Khan Award for Architecture. He has twice been the chairman of its prestigious master jury. To many, he is a well-known architecture and art critic, publishing and lecturing on these topics in three languages worldwide. He is widely acknowledged to have helped create an intellectual forum where the best of architecture is wedded to diverse issues such as ecology, aesthetic elegance, social concerns, development, cultural heritage, and preservation.
Such impressive achievements are the reason for the unprecedented support world intellectuals have given Serageldin for his candidature to the post of UNESCO's director-general. So far, 31 Nobel Laureates, as well as 200 other prominent figures, whom he describes as a "who's who" of education, science, culture and human rights, have signed a declaration of support to elect him.
Despite the support, and despite Serageldin's record of achievements, his victory is not certain. Although Egypt had initially decided to put forward his name as candidate last year, things seem to have changed since. Now there is another Arab candidate, Ghazi Al-Qusseibi, Saudi ambassador to the UK, whose candidature was endorsed by the meeting of Arab ministers of education, held at Tripoli last December.
"Everyone immediately said I had withdrawn. I denied this," explains Serageldin. He set up a website and wrote letters to the 58 ambassadors of UNESCO in a bid to dispel the rumours. "The people who supported me would not understand if I told them, sorry guys, some people met somewhere and decided that I should not be a candidate," he protests. "I have a moral responsibility towards them. These people are not politicians, but they are the people who represent the essence of UNESCO. And if you're not going to give weight to the judgment and views of people like that, what on earth is this institution about?"
The final decision will be made on 15 November. This will be preceded by a vote, in late October, by the executive board of UNESCO: representatives of 58 member states will decide who the organisation wants to nominate. The formal vote is then made by UNESCO's 186 member states in November.
Will Serageldin's campaign succeed? He believes the only thing he can count on is his merit. "I'm sure there are political considerations taken into account by member states. But I've chosen not to get into that. Besides, I'm not in a position to. I don't believe that it's right to get involved in suggesting that 'if you vote for me, I'll do that'. I have no counterpart offer to make. The only thing I can offer is what I think I could do and bring to UNESCO."
And if he doesn't make it? "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," he responds with confidence.
photos: Randa Shaath
