At the Global Industry Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Fatou Haidara, the Managing Director of Global Partnerships and External Relations at UNIDO, spoke with Conor Lennon from UN news to look back at the agency’s changing priorities, and why it is needed more than ever as it reaches its 60th yeare year.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length
Fatou Haidara: When UNIDO was founded, the industry was considered a polluter. Industrial policy wasn’t a good term, and the environment wasn’t much of an issue. In the meantime, we have seen that industrialization is not just about production; it is a whole process, starting from policy, to strengthening institutions, and to making small and medium-sized enterprises competitive.
When you put all these elements together, you realize that no one can tackle them all alone. That is why partnerships with governments are the crucial element for us, and the second important partner is the private sector. We must support the government in preparing the right space for industries or the private sector to invest in the technologies needed today.
We must protect the planet, but we must lift as many people as possible out of poverty; this is what drives our work.
UN News: You support countries even when they are in the middle of conflict. What can you actually achieve when a member state like Sudan is at war?
Fatou Haidara: I think UNIDO is one of the few institutions that has decided to continue its activities. We think it is exactly that when countries are in difficult situations and need support.
We are very careful in continuing the activities, but we do stay with the government to support them, and this has happened in Sudan and in other conflict areas. We are preparing the ground, we are starting to work on industrial strategies together with the government and for this you do not have to be physically in the conflict zone.
The US is a major export destination for the apparel and apparel industries in many developing countries.
UN News: How important are environmental issues to your work at UNIDO?
Fatou Haidara: We have different categories of Member States and we have specific strategies for all these Member States. For some countries it is about access to energy. For others, it’s about decarbonizing major polluting industries or energy efficiency. We have all these different approaches depending on the level and the sectors we work in. The climate is present in all these strategies, but it is not a one-size-fits-all policy.
UN News: What would you say to those who think we no longer need UNIDO or the UN?
Fatou Haidara: The UN is needed more than ever because we are in a very rapidly changing world and facing many crises. The UN is a neutral mediator. It’s multilateral: we’re all members of the UN and this is a place where we can all talk to each other. We bring everyone together.
UNIDO stands for a more inclusive approach to development. We have a lot of expertise that helps us integrate the social aspect, the environment and the economy. Our 60 years of experience has helped us gather the best practices from all parts of the world for the benefit of all countries.
We are not a humanitarian institution, but we remain on the side of the people.
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