Steve Umemoto: Planning Officers Meeting Chiang Mai 1977

Editor's Note:  Comments added below from Kul Gautam, Sudarshan Narula, Shahida Azfar, Farid Rahman

Steve Umemoto

Planning officers meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand 1977. From left to right (including country of assignment)

     Tony Reyes (Philippines); Kunio Waki (Bangaldesh); Samiarti (Indonesia); Akram Piracha (Laos -- Rep); Hans Narula (Indonesia); Steve Umemoto (EAPRO).

Steve Umemoto

The small Chiangmai meeting that I organized is merely a bit of the "planning" culture development in 1970s UNICEF in Asia. 

 Broadening UNICEF assistance beyond collections of "projects" at country level got a boost with a 1964 "Round-table Conference" organized by Dick Heyward, the newly recruited Assistant Director for Planning, Edward Iwaszkiewicz, and UNICEF Consultant Herman Stein, on "Planning for the Needs of Children in Developing Countries". The conference involved some of Europe, Asia and North America's leading economists including Jan Tinbergen, V.K.R.V Rao and Hans Singer. Dr. Iwaszkiewicz, later "Deputy Executive Director (Planning), gradually accumulated a group of planning officers in headquarters -- Francois Remy, Victor Solar, and Bill Fuller. 

 Bill moved to Beirut as the first regional planning officer and I was recruited as a sort of replacement. G. V. Subba-Rao had been taken on as a second regional planning officer, in Delhi -- perhaps the first person located in a programme country serving as an international officer in his own country. 

 A post of a second planning officer in Delhi was created and filled with a young Hans Narula. One of Dr. Iwaszkiewicz's priority in my first year was to find and recruit a planning officer for the East Asia and Pakistan Regional Office in Bangkok. 

 After a regional seminar in June 1967 (serviced by Hans and me), our boss identified his candidate, the Iran participant at the seminar, Baquer Namazi. In the meantime, I was intent on moving from the sixth floor of 866 UN Plaza to the field and a friendship with one of the two deputy heads of the small HQ Programme Division proved beneficial. 

When Martin Sandberg was appointed to head the reopened Indonesia office (reopened in 1966 by a young assistant programme officer from EAPRO, Akram Piracha) we began correspondence, as he was one of the few UNICEF old-timers who bought into "the planning business". In February 1969 I moved to become the first country level planning officer in the organization.

Baquer returned to his government's service after two years and was succeeded by Nailton Santos. After five and half years in Indonesia, 

I took study leave at MIT (urban and regional planning, encountered a Pakistani Farid Rahman) in the same programme Nailton was in a few years before joining UNICEF. While on study leave I was nominated by UNICEF as Representative to Iran, but this never came about (an somewhat exotic story in itself) and by default ended up succeeding Nailton in Bangkok. By that time we had planning officers or quazi-planning officers in several countries. 

 With the encouragement of my Regional Director, Roberto Escuerra-Barry, I decided to hold a first regional meeting of planning officers, in Chiangmai. I believe Manou Assadi had just recruited a young Pakistani lady as planning officer, but I suspect he felt she was too new to join us. Otherwise, Shahida Azfar would also be in the picture. 

 In Burma we were still in the process of getting a young British volunteer turned assistant programme officer into a part-time planning officer role -- Steve Woodhouse. A couple of country Representatives also decided to join -- Akram the Rep in Laos and Wah Wong in the Philippines (Wah is in a second picture - attached). His planning officer, Tony Reyes came to the organization as his diplomat father served a year as the Chairman of UNICEF's Executive Board. Hans had succeeded me as planning officer in Indonesia in 1975, and Kunio had moved from his first UNICEF assignment in India to Bangladesh around 1975.

Perhaps more history of "planning" in UNICEF Asia that you actually need. Cheers.

Sudarshan Narula

Dear Steve,

Thanks for sharing a beautiful memory, and you all look great! 

With warm regards 

Sudarshan 

Kul Gautam

Wow, lovely youngsters !

Shahida Azfar

Dear Steve
How wonderful to read your detailed history of the planning officers in UNICEF. If my memory holds I believe I too attended a planning officers meeting in Chiangmai with Nans Narula, Keshab Matema and some others but I am not sure if you organized another one there or just left me out of the photo of the first one !!!
If I find any solid evidence like a photo of the one I attended I will share it around
Meanwhile warmest regards to all
Shahida

Dear Shahida,


Steve Umemoto

I too recall your being at the meeting and I believe Keshab as well. But how you missed the picture I am not sure. The picture with Wah Wong included I believe was taken on Doi Sutep, the mountain (with impressive temple) overlooking Chiengmai. The other picture looks like it may have been taken where we stayed, but the specific venue for the meeting is lost to me. Perhaps Kunio or Keshab can fill in a few details. But as I mentioned, one of my favourate memories is of our dinner together at Saladin's in Peshewar.





Best wishes, Steve




Farid Rahman
Dear Steve,
An engrossing piece of UNICEF memorabilia eloquently recorded with sensitivity and feeling, which has wakened buried memories and jolted old emotions. The young and enthusiastic greenhorns, in your pictures, went on to shape the future of planning and programming in UNICEF
and it’s long term contribution to women and children.
An unstated theme Behind the pictures and your modestly stated story is your great personal contribution in getting members of this team together and many others of us on board and constantly infusing innovative energy and ideas through this network in UNICEF’s strategic direction. You have also been a great recruiter of talent for UNiCEF and I can recall your maintain a long dossier of prospective candidates which would be the envy of any current headhunter . For instance, Your role in the recruitment of Kunio Waki, Shoaib Sultan Khan “ The man in the hat” in Sri Lanka,and Hans Narula to replace you in Indonesia and of course Joe Judd, were master strokes , not to mention Cess Adorna, Richard Prado, Tita Contado and so many others
I think your short and highly interesting peek into UNICEF’s history should not end with this narrative, but (as you Recently suggested to Fuad Kronfol with regard to Manou Assadi), be the beginning of a longer and fuller story of a glorious career.
Best
Farid

Steve Umemoto

Farid,

I am sure there are dozens of us, just from the Asian "theatre" of UNICEF in the 70's, 80's and 90's, who collectively have a fascinating history to tell .... but how to capture, consolidate and perserve it? Steve

Kul Gautam

Agree with Farid - Steve U was an amazingly resourceful colleague and mentor to many of us. When he was at EAPRO, I recall his personal roster of talented professionals fit for planning and programme officers and consultants was more extensive than any held by UNICEF HQ's Personnel/HR Division.


In every post he served, Steve left a profound impact - of innovation in programme, planning and network of friends and colleagues beyond office staff and govt counterparts to the academia, think tanks and civil society.


I too would encourage Steve to write up a longer account of the vignettes of his colourful experiences and the quiet influence he had particularly in the Asian "theatre" of his career.



Steve Woodhouse

What a brilliant write up by Steve U which brought back such happy memories of all colleagues mentioned and who have responded in this thread.

I would add Ed Lannert as another contributor to UNICEFs evolving planning for development culture in the mid 1970s.

The idealism coupled with pragmatism and enthusiasm for our work has mafe us all very happy seniors today.I strongly believe that we need to distill generic lessons learnt for the benefit of the worlds children moving forward.

All best wishes to all Steve Woodhouse