United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recognized Boston University international relations professor Adil Najam’s career work in the areas of development and climate change with a nomination to the U.N. Committee on Development Policy on Feb. 10, which members of the U.N. Economic and Social Council voted to accept.
Najam, director of BU Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, said the 24-member committee’s role is to provide counsel to the U.N. and monitor the situations of developing countries.
‘It advises the U.N. on what issues should be on the development agenda,’ Najam said. ‘It decides every few years what countries are going to be listed as the least developed countries.’
As one of the lead authors on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 along with former Vice President Al Gore, Najam has had previous experience working internationally on a large project. Najam said his experience with issues of climate change will be particularly important to the committee.
‘Part of my appointment this year is because climate change is a big topic,’ Najam said.
‘[I hope] to keep pushing this idea that development is about climate and climate is about development.’ My whole work has been linking the two.’
Najam said he will not be leaving BU, but will instead travel for committee meetings in New York City.
BU international relations department Acting Chairman William Keylor said Najam’s appointment is significant for the university.
‘This is an example of the kind of public service faculty members in our department are expected to do,’ Keylor said.
Keylor said Najam’s wide range of expertise makes him a candidate for the position.
‘He’s an expert on development . . . particularly in emerging nations,’ Keylor said. ‘They called on him as an advisor. He’s just a very knowledgeable person who has studied the subject from a variety of perspectives . . . <<[He is]>> both articulate, but also a very respected researcher.’
International relations professor Susan Eckstein said she thinks Najam will also draw on personal experience to work with the committee.
‘He works in the field of development and he knows it first hand from being from a developing country,’ Eckstein said. ‘He’s from Pakistan. It’s an honor for him, and it’s an honor for BU.’
International relations professor Charles Dunbar agreed.
‘It’s a recognition of a relatively youthful professor as really strong in his field,’ Dunbar said. ‘It’s [The U.N. is] a very consequential organization.’
Najam said one of his goals is to bring awareness of BU to the international community.
‘Hopefully, I’ll be able to represent the diversity of this university at the U.N.,’ Najam said. ‘I hope to bring a little bit of the U.N. back to BU and a little bit of BU to the U.N.’
Najam said he also hopes his experiences will add to his value as a BU professor.
‘I’ll come back with even more knowledge of how the world works,’ Najam said. ‘Hopefully, my students will benefit from that.’
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