After having spent one of my
two previous weeks in Delhi, feeling moderately bored, it was high-time
that something exciting happened. And it sure did deliver.
Climbing back into the UN car we made our way to a far more understated but arguably nicer hotel, The Claridges.The
event was amazing but my favourite part was definitely the free
wine.... Here in India, wine is somewhat of a luxury and a very
expensive one. It didn't take much for me to be feeling a little woozy!!
The following
day, Tuesday, I woke feeling a little tired. I had not got home until
11pm which is a very late night for me at the moment. Add some wine into
the mix and I was shattered. I got through the day and stuck around at
the office until about 6:30. That night was the launch of an Australian
festival that is held all around India for four months, Ozfest.
Quentin (a French intern) and I bought the 'free' tickets a few days
earlier so we went along. It was an amazing night. I had the opportunity
to catch up with one of my husband's colleagues (why on Earth they did
not send Pete, I will never understand!) and also my Dad's cousin who I
have never met.
That evening was quite incredible, I did feel really proud to be Australian at that moment. The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard made an incredible speech (I am quite a fan of her public speaking; not a political endorsement!!). Mark Atkins played as well as Gurrumul and sitar legend, Anoushka Shankar. There was something very special about watching these beautiful indigenous instruments, from their respective countries being played against the backdrop of Purana Qila which was lit up by 3D projection.
As we were leaving that evening the typical Delhi transportation nightmare ensued. Well, I am sure it would have been ok if you were one of the expat's with a driver. For me, it was a little more ad hoc. with Julia Gillard's presence, all of the roads were closed down. The traffic wasn't diverted, it was simply stopped. These long boulevards of emptiness (and enough sniper's to make any layman uncomfortable) were flanked by traffic jams. Added to this irrational logic was that there was no public transportation for the punters leaving the festival! As Jule's made her way out we walked along the cracked and tired road until we could finally flag down a rickshaw. 150 rupees and 45 minutes later I was home.
Thankfully, Wednesday proved a little more quiet but amazing non the less. With our upcoming conference later that week, the Under Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Dr Noeleen Heyzer was coming to visit our office. To be honest, I had totally forgotten. However, something told me at breakfast that wearing jeans that day was going to be a bad idea.... I madly rushed upstairs and got changed into a skirt..... just my luck! It was wonderful meeting Dr Heyzer and I quite liked her style of management; she is firm and all about the substance. Incredibly outcome oriented, I like that.
After a quiet Wednesday evening, ny phone went off at 6am the next day and I crawled out of bed. I was headed to the office to do some final printing before a major conference hosted by the ESCAP sub regional office (where I work). It was the 'high-level policy dialogue for regional cooperation and inclusive development in south and south west Asia'.
Part of the purpose of the event was to launch a major report that the office had been working on long before I arrived. I was lucky to be involved in the tail end of the production of the report. We spent endless hours doing the tedious referencing, abbreviation, sourcing and editing tasks and this often spilled over into the evenings and weekends. Roughly 10,000 words long, it was the true definition of team work.
After day one of the conference had passed, it was time for the evening dinner. One thing I can confirm is that public funds are not being spent on alcohol! Despite this, I had so many engaging conversations with brilliant people that I went home drunk on excitement.
There were so many highlights of this conference that there would be too many to list here. There are two that I will mention.
The first is more of an observation. Each time a new session started I made a point of counting the women in the room. At no one time did I manage to find more than ten per cent of the delegates as being female. I know that gender development in the region is poor and until more women begin to move into positions of power within government and other high level think tanks, there will be no progress as there is no gender agenda.
The second is that the most engaging session of the event involved three women on the panel (and the discussion was not about gender). It was a discussion about the agenda beyond 2015 and how the region has fared in terms of the Millennium Development Goals. Without going into too much detail, what is interesting is the 'othering' that seems to happen between this region and the west. There are challenges in the relationship, particularly with the United States but I was quite disappointed in this. For me, I like the think of this world as one world and that we can make progress together. However, it is clear that mentality is not shared among everyone (from both sides...). I was incredibly impressed with dialogue between Professor Jeffrey Sachs , Dr Noeleen Heyzer, H.E. Dr Syeda Hameed (India), Dr. Hafiz Pasha (Pakistan) and Professor Jayati Ghosh (India). The session ended with a presentation by Mr Karma Tshiteem from the Gross National Happiness Commission in Bhutan. What was highlighted here for me is that these conversations are critical for sharing perspectives and strategies for development and that blame will only send us as a society backwards.
My apologies for the rushed writing in this post, I am quickly falling behind on my blog posts and have another two to go to make up ground. Time is passing faster than I expected which is mostly to blame.
I will be back online with another post in the next few days, until then......Xx
My
third week in this wonderful city was all about why I came to Delhi. I
woke up excited on Monday morning knowing that I wouldn't be spending
this week blogging about my modes of transportation in and around Delhi.
And I knew that I would have experiences that I would keep with me for
many years.
Again,
a typical Monday, it started like all the others. YAWN. Instead of the
usual mundane-Monday, at 3pm I was whisked down stairs and into an
awaiting UN vehicle with one of the professional staff. We were on our
way to an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Global Development Network joint event which was the launch of an article that my aforementioned colleague had worked on during his time at the OECD.
We drove first to the Ashok Hotel
for my colleague to register for the OECD World Forum which is a four
day event, to be held form Tuesday to Friday. The Ashok is a five-star,
state owned monolith of a hotel with Lutyen era architecture and
ridiculously over sized chandeliers. Having been confined to a guest
house it was some what un nerving (but becoming the norm) to have to
walk through security and be frisked. Coming off the back of the
bombings in 2008, it is no surprise.
For about
half an hour we stood around frustrated waiting for the hotel staff to
work out how to register my colleague for the conference. Sometimes (all
the time) the littlest thing can be the biggest thing, 'Hello Sir, can I help you Sir? Please go that way Sir', only to be sent back in the opposite direction. Three times.
The highlight for me? It wasn't the grandiose chandeliers or the opulent decor. No, it was that I finally the mythical light blue passport - A United Nations passport! Aha! I thought to myself, they really do exist!
The highlight for me? It wasn't the grandiose chandeliers or the opulent decor. No, it was that I finally the mythical light blue passport - A United Nations passport! Aha! I thought to myself, they really do exist!
 | ||||
| OECD & GDN Joint Policy Dialogue: Social Cohesion in a Shifting World. |
 |
| With Dad's cousin and childhood friend, Mark Atkins. |
That evening was quite incredible, I did feel really proud to be Australian at that moment. The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard made an incredible speech (I am quite a fan of her public speaking; not a political endorsement!!). Mark Atkins played as well as Gurrumul and sitar legend, Anoushka Shankar. There was something very special about watching these beautiful indigenous instruments, from their respective countries being played against the backdrop of Purana Qila which was lit up by 3D projection.
As we were leaving that evening the typical Delhi transportation nightmare ensued. Well, I am sure it would have been ok if you were one of the expat's with a driver. For me, it was a little more ad hoc. with Julia Gillard's presence, all of the roads were closed down. The traffic wasn't diverted, it was simply stopped. These long boulevards of emptiness (and enough sniper's to make any layman uncomfortable) were flanked by traffic jams. Added to this irrational logic was that there was no public transportation for the punters leaving the festival! As Jule's made her way out we walked along the cracked and tired road until we could finally flag down a rickshaw. 150 rupees and 45 minutes later I was home.
Thankfully, Wednesday proved a little more quiet but amazing non the less. With our upcoming conference later that week, the Under Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Dr Noeleen Heyzer was coming to visit our office. To be honest, I had totally forgotten. However, something told me at breakfast that wearing jeans that day was going to be a bad idea.... I madly rushed upstairs and got changed into a skirt..... just my luck! It was wonderful meeting Dr Heyzer and I quite liked her style of management; she is firm and all about the substance. Incredibly outcome oriented, I like that.
After a quiet Wednesday evening, ny phone went off at 6am the next day and I crawled out of bed. I was headed to the office to do some final printing before a major conference hosted by the ESCAP sub regional office (where I work). It was the 'high-level policy dialogue for regional cooperation and inclusive development in south and south west Asia'.
 |
| The report produced by my United Nations office. |
Part of the purpose of the event was to launch a major report that the office had been working on long before I arrived. I was lucky to be involved in the tail end of the production of the report. We spent endless hours doing the tedious referencing, abbreviation, sourcing and editing tasks and this often spilled over into the evenings and weekends. Roughly 10,000 words long, it was the true definition of team work.
After day one of the conference had passed, it was time for the evening dinner. One thing I can confirm is that public funds are not being spent on alcohol! Despite this, I had so many engaging conversations with brilliant people that I went home drunk on excitement.
 |
| Final copy of 'the report'! |
There were so many highlights of this conference that there would be too many to list here. There are two that I will mention.
The first is more of an observation. Each time a new session started I made a point of counting the women in the room. At no one time did I manage to find more than ten per cent of the delegates as being female. I know that gender development in the region is poor and until more women begin to move into positions of power within government and other high level think tanks, there will be no progress as there is no gender agenda.
The second is that the most engaging session of the event involved three women on the panel (and the discussion was not about gender). It was a discussion about the agenda beyond 2015 and how the region has fared in terms of the Millennium Development Goals. Without going into too much detail, what is interesting is the 'othering' that seems to happen between this region and the west. There are challenges in the relationship, particularly with the United States but I was quite disappointed in this. For me, I like the think of this world as one world and that we can make progress together. However, it is clear that mentality is not shared among everyone (from both sides...). I was incredibly impressed with dialogue between Professor Jeffrey Sachs , Dr Noeleen Heyzer, H.E. Dr Syeda Hameed (India), Dr. Hafiz Pasha (Pakistan) and Professor Jayati Ghosh (India). The session ended with a presentation by Mr Karma Tshiteem from the Gross National Happiness Commission in Bhutan. What was highlighted here for me is that these conversations are critical for sharing perspectives and strategies for development and that blame will only send us as a society backwards.
 |
| A much deserved relax on the lounge after the high-level policy dialogue. |
My apologies for the rushed writing in this post, I am quickly falling behind on my blog posts and have another two to go to make up ground. Time is passing faster than I expected which is mostly to blame.
I will be back online with another post in the next few days, until then......Xx
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