In September 2015, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were established, and various initiatives under these new development goals have begun around the world. Taking advantage of Mr. Tetsuo Kondo’s lecture on the SDGs in Kanazawa, UNU-IAS OUIK, in collaboration with the Ishikawa UN Study Visit Program Alumni Association, organized a roundtable discussion with him. We aim to create a meaningful exchange of ideas involving university and high school students considering their career choices, as well as those already engaged in international cooperation in Ishikawa, while learning about UNDP’s activities within the framework of the SDGs and Mr. Kondo’s career and experiences in developing countries. The discussion will be informal, accompanied by tea, so please feel free to join us.
Biography of Mr. Kondo: Graduated from Tokyo Metropolitan University (now Tokyo Metropolitan University). He obtained a master’s degree in development studies from the University of International Business and Economics in the United States. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981 and worked in France, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the Law of the Sea Division, and the UN Mission. In 2001, he was seconded to the UNDP headquarters, where he served as a special advisor to then-Administrator Mark Malloch Brown and as the Executive Secretary for the Donor Committee of the UN-World Bank Iraq Trust Fund. After retiring from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2005, he worked as a senior advisor for tsunami recovery support at the UNDP Bangkok Regional Centre and as a humanitarian aid coordinator for the United Nations Mission in East Timor. In 2007, he became Deputy Resident Representative of the UNDP Kosovo Office, and in 2010, he became the Head of the UNDP Chad Office. He has been in his current position since January 2014. He is also a part-time lecturer at the University of Tokyo Graduate School (International Health Policy). He hails from Tokyo.
