Career Summary. Education. Employment History: Overview

Transcription

1 CURRICULUM VITAE Muhammad Aslam Chaudhry, Ph.D. Research Professor, Department of Economics University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA address: Career Summary Dr. Chaudhry is an experienced Programme Manager and Natural Resources Economist with expertise in developing, managing and implementing sustainable development programs in the areas of water management and agriculture development within the context of poverty reduction and climate change. His career with the United Nations Secretariat spanned over more than 23 years during which he worked as Director/Head of the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development in Incheon, Republic of Korea; Chief of Global Policy Branch of DSD/DESA; Chief of Water, Natural Resources and Small island States Branch of DSD/DESA; Senior Water Adviser at UN Secretariat; and Chief Technical Adviser of several UN executed projects and programmes in developing countries. Dr Chaudhry s work in in developing countries focused on enhancing their institutional and technical capacities in water management, agricultural and rural development, and public policy analysis for achieving internationally agreed development goals. His policy development experience covers a combination of research and analysis, scenarios development, and organizing multi-stakeholder dialogues to promote participatory & informed decision-making. Institutional development experience included support to the establishment of several national and international institutions and mechanisms. Dr. Chaudhry holds a Ph.D in Agricultural and Natural Resources Economics from Colorado State University, USA, and is the author of several papers, chapters in books, and parliamentary reports for the UN covering different aspects of sustainable development. Education 1985 Ph.D. Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics, Colorado State University, U.S.A M.Sc. Agricultural Economics, Colorado State University, U.S.A M.Sc (Hons). Agricultural Marketing, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan B.Sc (Hons). Agriculture with major in Economics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Employment History: Overview 2015-todate Research Professor, Department of Economics, University of Utah, USA; Chief of Party/Deputy Project Director, US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water, MUET, Jamshoro, Pakistan Head of Office/Director, United Nations Office for Sustainable Development, Incheon, Republic of Korea Chief, Global Policy Branch, DSD/DESA, United Nations, New York Chief, Water, Natural Resources and SIDS Branch, DSD/DESA, United Nations, New York Senior Water Adviser, DSD/DESA, United Nations, New York UNDP/DESA Adviser to several UN projects in Syria, Ethiopia and Pakistan Chief Technical Adviser, UNDESA, Yemen Water Resources Economist, UNDTCD, North Yemen Senior Program Specialist/Project Officer, USAID Mission to Pakistan Economist with different technical assistance contractors of USAID/Pakistan

2 Research Assistant, Department of Agricultural and Natural Resources Economics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA Manager Marketing, Punjab Seed Corporation, Lahore, Pakistan Professional History January 2015 to date: Research Professor, Department of Economics, University of Utah, USA. Currently stationed at the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET), Jamshoro, Pakistan, as Chief of Party/Deputy Project Director, US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water (CAS-W). The University of Utah (UU) has been selected by USAID/Pakistan as the technical assistance partner of MUET for advancing the development and growth of CAS-W. As Chief of Party of UU team, my main task is to provide effective oversight and coordination of all aspects of the CAS-W project. Main functions include the following: serving as the principle interlocutor with the Government of Pakistan (GoP) and USAID in Pakistan on all aspects related to CAS-W administration, management and programming; maintaining relationships and coordination with all partners (MUET, other CAS Centers, USAID, policy and research organs of the GOP etc.); guiding and steering the CAS-W implementation, in particular through (i) reforming curriculum for higher education, (ii) designing and implementing applied policy research agenda, and (iii) strengthening technical and institutional capacities of CAS- W at MUET; coordinating and supporting the technical and strategic management of project work flow, procurement, and impact monitoring of project activities; providing advisory services to MUET, including support to policy processes, technical advice and support to seminars, trainings/workshops, and on-the-job capacity development in water-related disciplines; ensuring systematic mainstreaming of cross cutting issues of gender and climate change in research and academic activities; and supporting the UU and MUET project teams in building partnerships for resource mobilization by identifying new programmatic opportunities, developing concept notes and project documents, and building partnerships with donors and partners. March August 2013: Director/Head of Office, United Nations Office for Sustainable Development, Republic of Korea. Major responsibilities included directing and managing all programmatic, analytical, capacity building, administrative and budgetary functions of the Office as summarized below: formulating and implementing substantive work programme of the Office; ensuring achievement of programmatic and budgetary targets and timelines; managing Office s staff including evaluation of staff performance, staff recruitment, mentoring staff, and recruitment and supervision of short-term consultants; delivering demand-driven capacity development services and training programmes for the Member States; developing knowledge sharing and dissemination partnerships to support implementation of Office s work programme; representing the United Nations in international, regional and/or national meetings;

3 Organizing international conferences, symposiums, and experts meetings on issues related to sustainable development; and Maintaining liaison with UN headquarters, host country government, donors and UN offices in ROK. September January 2012: Chief, Global Policy Branch, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, New York: Main duties included the following: coordinating the programmatic, administrative, and organizational work of the Secretariat of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) to support the intergovernmental policy processes; guiding and contributing to the preparation of assessment and progress reports on internationally agreed development agenda on sustainable development for presentation to intergovernmental bodies (such as: CSD, ECOSOC, GA etc); coordinating and facilitating the implementation of recommendations emanating from intergovernmental bodies with regard to economic and social development and environment management; providing policy advice to the senior management, including the Under-Secretarv- General of UNDESA and Secretary-General of the UN; served as Head of the Intergovernmental Cluster of the Rio+20 Secretariat with responsibility to provide support to the preparatory process leading up to the Rio+20 Conference (Rio+20 refers to UN Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio in June 2012); maintaining liaison with the delegations of governments, UN system focal points on sustainable development, and representatives of private sector and civil society to mobilize support for successful organization of CSD sessions; and supervision and mentoring of professional and administrative staff. November August 2009: Chief, Water, Natural Resources and SIDS Branch, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, New York. Main tasks included: substantive servicing to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, supervising the preparation of Secretary-General s reports on water, sanitation and other natural resources themes; managing the operational activities aimed at providing technical assistance to developing countries in natural resources management with emphasis on poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods; developing partnerships with a network of academic, development institutions, and international organizations to advance the implementation of Millennium Development Goals especially in the areas of water and sanitation, food security and poverty eradication; and providing high level policy advice to the Under-Secretary-General of UNDESA; served as Secretary of UN-Water (it is the United Nations inter-agency coordination mechanism for all freshwater and sanitation related matters, and it currently has 31 members and 34 partners); and supervision and mentoring of professional and administrative staff.

4 February October 2007: Senior Adviser (Water Resources Management), United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA. Provided support to the Water and Natural Resources Branch of the United Nations Secretariat in implementing its technical cooperation programme in various developing countries within the framework provided by Agenda 21, Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This involved: development, management and evaluation of water-related programmes and projects executed by the UN in different developing countries; assessment of capacity building needs in the water sector, development of capacity building programs, and organization of capacity development workshops at national and regional levels; identification and recruitment of consultants and experts for technical cooperation programmes; building partnerships for resource mobilization and accelerate implementation of internationally agreed water agenda; and contributing to Branch s analytical and normative work by offering strategic advice and preparing technical and policy papers to facilitate the inter-governmental dialogue on sustainable development issues. November January 2001: Senior Adviser/Consultant, UNDP/UN DESA for various projects in Ethiopia, Syria and Pakistan. Ethiopia: provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Water Resources through a series of short-term missions in the development of water sector strategy and water sector development program (WSDP). Towards this aim, main responsibilities included: (i) preparation of methodological framework for the formulation of WSDP; (ii) provision of technical guidance to the national team of professionals; (iii) review of all technical outputs produced under the project for sake of consistency and integration into the master plan document; (iv) organization of a series of stakeholders workshops; and (v) preparation of the final WSDP document together with the plan implementation strategy. Syria: assisted the Ministry of Irrigation in the development of a water management program for Orontos Basin including institutional development of water research center. Pakistan: assisted the Ministry of Environment in the development of National Environment Action Support Program. September June 1999: Chief Technical Adviser, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Sana a, Yemen. Responsible for executing a large institutional capacity building programme for the newly established National Water Resources Authority which was funded jointly by the UNDP and the Netherlands Government. As a team leader, directed a large multi-disciplinary team of international and national experts to manage and implement various components of the programme which included: preparation and implementation of human resources development plan; preparation of regional water management action plans, including social and environmental analysis of proposed water management scenarios; setting-up of the national hydro- meteorological monitoring network; establishment of water resources information center, and decision support system; preparation of TOR for short-term consultants, request for proposals for

5 subcontracts, and monitoring the implementation of subcontracts;

6 supervision and coordination of activities of international experts and their national counterparts, administrative and financial management of the programme; and maintaining liaison with the national and international institutions involved in the implementation of training programs. December September 1992: Water Resources Economist, United Nations Department of Technical Cooperation and Development (UNDTCD), Sana'a, North Yemen. Worked as a member of the multi-disciplinary team responsible for preparation of a national water master plan. Specific responsibilities included: development and application of procedures for assessment of regional and national water demands in different water consuming sectors; developed multi-sector water resources planning model used to evaluate the impact of various government policies and demand management measures on resource allocation and regional economic development; performed financial and economic analysis of water sector projects; provided inputs in the preparation of the National Development Plan; organized and conducted in-house training for the national counterpart staff to enhance institutional capacity in water resources planning; and organized national seminars to disseminate the results of policy studies completed under the project. June December 1989: Senior Programme Specialist, USAID Mission to Pakistan. Served as the Principal Agricultural Policy Adviser to the Office of Agricultural and Rural Development, USAID-Islamabad. As Project Officer of the Agricultural Sector Support Program, performed a wide range of administrative and project management functions, including the following. review and analysis of the impact of economic policies on the performance of economy in general and agriculture sector in particular; preparation of policy briefing papers on emerging economic issues and their impact on agriculture sector; development of agricultural policy agenda/benchmarks for negotiations with the government; participation in the policy dialogue with the government; evaluation of government performance in accomplishing various policy benchmarks for determining the scope and magnitude of funding; and monitored the contract economic research program of USAID. November June 1989: Staff Economist, Chemonics/USAID/Pakistan, Economic Analysis Network (EAN) Project. Provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture on emerging agricultural and macro-economic policy issues. Major responsibilities included: development of econometric and optimization models with capabilities to evaluate the economic effects of alternative policies (such as: irrigation water charges, water allocation rules, conjunctive water use, pumping costs etc.) on resource allocation and management;

7 development of training programs on application of econometric and optimization models; preparation of TOR for consultants, requests for research proposals, and evaluation of research proposals etc; and monitoring of the contract economic research program of the EAN project. June November 1986: Irrigation Economist, PRC-CHECCHI/USAID, Pakistan Irrigation Systems Management Project. Provided technical assistance to the Provincial Irrigation Departments on matters relating to economic and institutional aspects of irrigation development. conducted research on irrigation water pricing, O&M funding requirements, and cost recovery issues; estimation of the structure and level of water charges under alternative pricing mechanisms; development of crop/farm level models to assess farmer's capacity to pay for water charges; and Delivered lectures on financial and economic analysis of irrigation projects to the senior executives of the provincial irrigation departments to strengthen their in-house project planning capabilities : Graduate Student/Research Assistant, Colorado State University, USA. Completed M.Sc and Ph.D degrees. Doctoral research work focused on "Economics of Alternative Irrigation Water Pricing and Allocation Rules in Pakistan". Also, worked as part time Research Assistant in the Department of Agricultural & Natural Resource Economics : Manager Marketing, Punjab Seed Corporation, Lahore/ Pakistan. Established seed distribution network in the Punjab Province, comprising of both the public and private sector agencies. Developed annual seed distribution plans and supervised their implementation. Assisted in the development of annual seed procurement plans. Prepared new development schemes relating to the production and marketing of seeds of major and minor crops. Other responsibilities included market research, market planning, staff training, coordination with the marketing agents and seed growers, and preparation of annual and quarterly progress reports. Institutional Development Experience During my career with the United Nations, I led and coordinated a number of processes leading to the creation and operationalization of several institutional structures. These for example included: Creation of a National Water Resources Authority in Yemen; Establishment of a Strategic Planning Unit in the Syrian Ministry of Irrigation Creation and management of UN-Water; Operationalizing the work of UN Secretary General s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation; Creation of Water Operators Partnership; Establishment of UN Office for Sustainable Development in Republic of Korea; and Center for Advanced Studies in Water in Pakistan.

8 ds Prizes or Awar Staff Recognition Award (2011): Awarded by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in recognition of dedicated service to the United Nations in support of its goals and mission. Honorary Citizenship of Republic of Korea 2013: Conferred by the ROK Government in recognition of services to advance sustainable development including the establishment of Secretariat for Green Climate Fund in Incheon. Certificate of Appreciation (2012): Letter by the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Service on different Committees/Panels Served as chair and member of UN selection committees for recruitment and promotion of professional staff between Served as member of the Editorial Board of the "Natural Resources Forum"--United Nations Journal of Sustainable Development ( ). Led and coordinated the programmatic and organizational preparations of the annual sessions of United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development for five consecutive years from 2007 to These sessions were attended by the senior policy makers of the UN Member states, and also included a high-level Ministerial segment. The Commission served as the highest intergovernmental body within the UN system for reviewing the progress on implementation of internationally agreed sustainable development agenda and global public policy making. Served as Head of the Intergovernmental Cluster of the Rio+20 Secretariat with responsibility to provide support to the preparatory process leading up to the Rio+20 Conference (Rio+20 refers to UN Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio in June 2012 at the Heads of state level). Served as Secretary of UN-Water from 2007 to 2009 (it is the United Nations interagency coordination mechanism for all freshwater and sanitation related matters, and it currently has 31 members and 34 partners). Served as the ex-officio member of the Steering Committee of the UN Office for Sustainable Development ( ). Publications Publications include research articles in refereed journals, chapters in books, policy briefing papers, UN parliamentary reports written on behalf of the Secretary-General to support intergovernmental processes (such as: CSD, ECOSOC and GA) in the areas of natural resources management, poverty reduction, and sustainable development.