10 Questions : Michel Saint-Lot

Malaika, Michel , Kora and Katia  

What was your last assignment with UNICEF?

My last position before retiring was Representative of Unicef in Madagascar, where I spent exactly 3 years.

How old do you feel?

About 50, even though my knees and lower back remind me that I should maybe be a bit more careful -and I am not 🙊

Where do you live?

Saint Saturnin-lès-Apt, in Provence, France… for now .

What book do you currently read?

I will rather say books -

• L’empire qui ne veut pas mourir - une Histoire de la Françafrique Édition du Seuil 2021
• La france face aux vins du Nouveau Monde, 39 congrès des confréries bachiques éditions Albin Michel 2002

And a lighter one

• Inspector Chen & Judge Dee, by Qiu Xiaolong, 2020

If you could travel without restrictions, where would you go?

Just came back from Belgrade where my wife and I spent 3 nice weeks seeing former colleagues and friends (I was Rep there from 2013 to 2018). I hope to travel to Haiti and see my family once the situation gets better… the country being now controlled by gangs which kidnap routinely and in broad daylight .

Your best experience with UNICEF?

I would cite 3 major ones.

First- Having been part of the small core interagency  team that put together the global strategies to eradicate globally  Dracunciliasis ( Guinea worm ) and in particular to have introduce Geographic Information System as a planning tool for decision making in health and WASH programmes. 

Second  as Chief of Hyderabad Field Office in India , were all strategies, in particular child protection ( child labor and early marriage) were to be scalable to reach millions of children and not a few .  

Third as Representative in Serbia, demistifying the belief that a person of color could not succeed in ECE (my being posted there was thanks to Tony Lake who understood that I was up to the challenge, and rightly so.)- In Serbia assisting the first wave of refugees, among those the 80,000 children that crossed Serbia between September and December 2015 

In both Hyderabad and Belgrade offices , I was lucky to have an incredible team of talented and passionate staff that care for children and took the organisation mission at heart. Whatever was achieved was a team effort. 

Your biggest challenge when working for UNICEF?

The bureaucracy and the tendency of many Senior Managers to post people that they want to be loyal to them, forgetting that our mission goes beyond individual ego.

New generation of staff that have no passion for the mission but rather being driven by the urge to climb to a higher position… as fast as possible .

What is your biggest fear, in relation to the future of children?

That Mental health is not being given due attention in a world were conflict, violence, displacement, impoverishment are on the increase , and mare with corrupt , greedy and power hungry leaders who forget that the welfare of people they are governing should be their core mission. Adding to that, the rapid environmental degradation that is not tackled with a real sens of urgency, thus putting at risk all earlier achievements and jeopardizing an already bleak future.

What is your greatest hope, in relation to children?

I believe that greater means of communication will forge stronger alliances across borders among adolescents and youth and see them demand more accountability and better governance systems that focus on people.

What is your one piece of advice you wish to give to the UNICEF Executive Director:

Put a stop to the « clan » assignments and promotions and ensure that qualified and experienced staff are assigned at the right place - and the respect of the tour of duty .

Focus on the need of children in countries rather than satisfying endless HQ needs - as we often hear in the field: «stop feeding the beast.»

Michel Saint-Lot, can be reached under msaintlot@gmail.com

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