Remembering Stephen Lewis by Kul Gautum

I join many former UNICEF staff members in expressing profound sorrow at the passing of Stephen Lewis - a friend, colleague, mentor, and fellow Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF.

I first learned about Stephen Lewis in the 1980s when he was the Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations. He was a fervent multilateralist and a staunch believer in the principles and ideals of the United Nations. I recall reading a memorable speech he delivered in defense of the UN, in which he said that even if the rest of the UN were useless - which, of course, it was not - the actions and achievements of UNICEF alone would justify its raison d'être.

 
There was tremendous mutual admiration between Lewis and the then UNICEF Executive Director, James Grant, and Deputy Executive Director, Richard Jolly. Whenever UNICEF needed an inspiring speaker to support its advocacy for child survival and development, Grant and Jolly often turned to Ambassador Lewis. Jolly once remarked that Stephen Lewis was possibly the most eloquent orator in the English-speaking world. Indeed, Lewis often captivated and moved his audiences to laughter, tears, and outrage in a single speech.

 
I recall Carol Bellamy once joking that among her most challenging tasks in public life was speaking after two great orators - one her bombastic boss and colleague, Ed Koch, former Mayor of New York City, and the other her inimitable Deputy at UNICEF, Stephen Lewis.

 
Lewis was one of those rare diplomats who was not afraid to speak up forcefully on issues others avoided as controversial. As the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, he persuaded leaders and citizens alike to give high priority to combating the pandemic, especially on that continent.

 
I recall that he strongly criticized South African President Thabo Mbeki for his cautious approach to tackling HIV/AIDS, in contrast to his predecessor Nelson Mandela's more proactive stance. He even dared to criticize Pope Benedict XVI for his assertion that condom use worsened the AIDS crisis. He also spoke out against the G8 countries, the World Bank, and the IMF for their debt policies and for not doing enough to support Africa.

 
As a member of the Rwanda Genocide Commission, he was critical of U.S. President Bill Clinton and several European leaders for their failure to prevent the tragedy. Presenting the Commission's report at the UN, he castigated the U.S. Ambassador, saying, in effect: "I wonder how Madeleine Albright can sleep peacefully while defending her government's inaction to prevent the genocide."

 
Lewis was also an ardent feminist. He strongly supported gender equality and the empowerment of women in all available forums and was a committed advocate for the establishment of UN Women.
Stephen could be both humorous and self-deprecating. He received 42 honorary doctorates from Canadian and U.S. universities. When accepting an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from my alma mater, Dartmouth College, in 2010, he confessed that he had attended four prestigious institutions in Canada over an embarrassingly long period, yet never completed his studies or earned a degree. As a result, he joked, he had spent much of his life "lusting after honorary degrees" to obtain through the back door what he had failed to gain through the front!

 
It was a true joy to work alongside Stephen Lewis and to be inspired by his warmth, eloquence, and unflagging commitment to human rights, social justice, and a more compassionate world order.

 
My last substantive communication with Stephen was in December 2024, when I sought his advice and endorsement of a letter I had drafted - on behalf of eight former Deputy Executive Directors - to the UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell, proposing ways to celebrate UNICEF's 80th anniversary in 2026. He enthusiastically co-signed the letter, in which we urged UNICEF leadership at all levels to document the organization's achievements in protecting children's rights and promoting their well-being across countries and sectors, and to instill pride in its legacy even as it prepares bold and visionary plans for the future.

 
May Stephen Lewis's memory inspire us all to recommit - more urgently and more deeply - to the humanitarian ideals he so powerfully embodied.

https://stephenlewisfoundation.org/remembering-stephen-lewis/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stephen-lewis-obituary-9.7148606
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKHdyVYaYro
photo credit: STRAIGHT.COM

Kul Chandra Gautam

www.kulgautam.org
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