2.14 Rejecting Inequality, Impatient for Change

Kaveh Zahedi is the Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP). He oversees ESCAP’s economic, social and environmental programmes and the overall implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Prior to this, Kaveh worked at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as the Regional Director and Representative for Asia and the Pacific and Deputy Director of the Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, overseeing work on the green economy, resource efficiency and climate change. He speaks to us about the challenge of fundraising, creating coalitions and partnerships of the willing, policy level advocacy and cause and effect, adaptability, the coronavirus pandemic, investing in social safety nets, building resiliency, engineering change towards sustainability, UN structures and intersectoral approaches, demonstrating impact, the UN reform process, regional level cooperation, being impatient for change, the role of the private sector, ICT for development, rejecting a tolerance for inequality and much more. He joins us from Bangkok, Thailand.