Nitin Desai is an Indian economist and international civil servant. He was Under-Secretary-General for
Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations from 1992 to 2003.
Early life and academic career
He was born to Dayalji M. and Shantaben Desai in 1941. He studied at St. Xavier's High School and
Elphinstone College
Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1823, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the ed ...
in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
. He received a bachelor's degree from the
University of Bombay
The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai.
The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...
in 1962 and, in 1965, earned a master's degree in Economics from the
.
Desai lectured in economics at the
University of Liverpool
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
, established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
and the
University of Southampton
, mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour
, type = Public research university
, established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
in the United Kingdom from 1965 to 1970.
Returning to
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
he worked as a consultant for the then nascent
Tata Economic Consultancy Services from 1970 to 1973. His major work here was on the economic analysis of CIDCO's Twin City project.
Career
Government of India
Desai began his government career in 1973 in the Planning Commission of the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
where he served in various capacities. His principal work there was the establishment of a system of cost-benefit appraisal of public investment projects. He was also involved in energy policy work and was on the Board of
Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL; d/b/a IndianOil) is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. It is headquartered in New Delhi. It is a public sector unde ...
. He was the member-secretary of the National Commission on the Development of Backward Areas. In 1983 he served concurrently as Secretary of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India.
Brundtland Commission and Ministry of Finance
From September 1985 to March 1987, he served as Senior Economic Adviser for the World Commission on Environment and Development (the
Brundtland Commission
The Brundtland Commission, formerly the World Commission on Environment and Development, was a sub-organization of the United Nations (UN) that aimed to unite countries in pursuit of sustainable development. It was founded in 1983 when Javier Pér ...
) where he introduced the concept of sustainable development and was responsible for drafting the key chapters dealing with this aspect in the report of the Commission "Our Common Future".
Returning to India in 1987, Desai was made Special Secretary in the Planning Commission and, in 1988, Secretary and Chief Economic Adviser in the Dept. of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. In the latter capacity he coordinated the preparations for the 1989 and the 1990 budgets of the Central Government.
United Nations
In 1990 Mr. Desai's services were requested by the United Nations. From 1990 to 1993, Desai was the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992 Rio Earth Summit). In that capacity one of his primary responsibilities was to co-ordinate the work of the Secretariat related to the development of Agenda 21, the principal programmatic outcome of the Conference.
In early 1993 the then United Nations Secretary-General established three new departments at United Nations Headquarters in the economic, social and related fields. In February 1993 he appointed Nitin Desai at the Under-Secretary-General level to head the newly created Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development. The substantive work of this Department supported the various United Nations intergovernmental bodies, including the Economic and Social Council, and the Commission on Sustainable Development.
In March 1997, Secretary-General
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...
appointed Desai to co-ordinate, and subsequently head, the consolidated
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is responsible for the follow-up to major United Nations Summits and Conferences, as well as services to the United Nations Econ ...
which provided substantive support to the normative, analytical, statistical and relevant technical co-operation processes of the United Nations on the economic and social side. In that capacity Desai organised and managed the Copenhagen Summit on Social Development (1995) and the Monterrey Summit on Finance and Development (2002). Desai was also the Convenor of the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs which brings together the heads of all the UN Secretariat entities directly concerned with economic, environmental and social issues.
In October 2001, the Secretary-General asked Desai to act as Secretary-General of the
World Summit on Sustainable Development
The World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, took place in South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002. It was convened to discuss ustainable developmentorganizations, 10 years after the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. (It was the ...
(2002 Johannesburg Summit).A special feature of this Summit was the focus on the developmental and environmental aspects of water, energy, agriculture, health and bio-diversity. The Summit also led to practical partnerships between governments, international organisations, the private sector and non-governmental organizations to address these concerns. Desai undertook this task in addition to his existing responsibilities.
At the end of August 2003, Desai retired from the UN but continued his association with the UN as a Special Adviser to the Secretary General for the
World Summit on the Information Society
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was a two-phase United Nations-sponsored summit on information, communication and, in broad terms, the information society that took place in 2003 in Geneva and in 2005 in Tunis. WSIS Forums have ...
. In that capacity he chaired an international multi-stakeholder
Working Group on Internet Governance The Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) was a United Nations multistakeholder Working group initiated after the 2003 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) first phase Summit in Geneva failed to agree on the future of Internet govern ...
.
Other offices
Desai was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the
in 2003–04. In July 2004 Desai was inducted as an Honorary Fellow of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
In India, Desai has been involved in a variety of public policy activities. He chaired the Committee on Technical Innovation and Venture Capital set up by the Planning Commission, Government of India in 2006. He is also the co-chair, along with Lord Chris Patten of the India-UK Round Table set up by the two governments.
In 2008, Desai joined the Advisory Board of the
carbon finance
Carbon finance is a branch of environmental finance that covers financial tools such as carbon emission trading to reduce the impact of greenhouse gases (GHG) on the environment by giving carbon emissions a price.
Financial risks and opportunities ...
business IDEAcarbon.
Desai is associated with the
Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy
The Helsinki Process on Globalization and Democracy is a joint initiative of Finland and Tanzania that resulted from the Helsinki Conference of December 2002. According to the Finnish government, "the Helsinki Process searches for novel and empowe ...
and many academic organisations and non-governmental organizations dealing with economic, social and environmental issues as also security and foreign policy. He has published several articles and papers on development planning, regional economics, industry, energy and international economic relations. He writes a monthly column for the
Business Standard
''Business Standard'' is an Indian English-language daily edition newspaper published by Business Standard Private Limited, also available in Hindi. Founded in 1975, the newspaper covers the Indian economy, infrastructure, international busine ...
, an economic daily published from Delhi.
In October 2012, Nitin Desai was elected chair of the Board of Trustees of
Oxfam International
Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International.
History
Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...
, an international non-governmental organizations for an initial three-year term, beginning March 2013.
He stepped down in October 2013 on health grounds.
Personal life
Niti Desai married Aditi Gupta in 1979 and they have two children, Kartikeya and Nandan.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, Nitin
Living people
1941 births
University of Mumbai alumni
Alumni of the London School of Economics
Academics of the London School of Economics
Academics of the University of Liverpool
Academics of the University of Southampton
20th-century Indian economists
Under-Secretaries-General of the United Nations
Indian diplomats
Honorary Fellows of the London School of Economics
21st-century Indian economists
Scientists from Mumbai
Indian officials of the United Nations
Chief Economic Advisers to the Government of India