Dr. Robin Nandy, UNICEF Representative presents credentials to Government of Uganda
State Minister of Foreign Affairs calls for heightened action to change mindset of Ugandans
1 October 2024 was a joyful day as the incoming UNICEF Representative to Uganda, Dr. Robin Nandy officially presented his credentials to the Government of Uganda.
With smiles and in a jovial mood, John Mulimba, State Minister of Foreign Affairs welcomed Nandy back to Uganda, acknowledging UNICEF’s unwavering partnership in promoting the health, education, and well-being of children and women in Uganda.
Dr. Nandy who recently served as the UNICEF Representative to Iran, worked in northern Uganda in 2001-2002 with International Rescue Committee. Nandy, a national of India is taking over from Munir Safieldin, Ph.D. who retired on 30 September 2024 having served UNICEF for 31 years.
In his remarks at the meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kampala, Minister Mulimba, noted the need to continue addressing emerging global challenges such as climate change and disease outbreaks, some of which are new to Uganda and are greatly affecting women and children.
“As the Government of Uganda, we prioritize children so much because that is the bedrock of our population. We are responsible for children’s social welfare, nutrition, and security among others. However, we are also facing challenges of emerging new diseases that are killing children. They are new and our people in the villages are dying but without proper records, we might not know the numbers,” Mulimba revealed.
He underscored Uganda’s commitment to working closely with UNICEF to confront these challenges, while also focusing on the broader social issues of teenage pregnancies and early marriages. The Minister called for a collaborative approach that emphasizes mindset change among Ugandans to achieve meaningful and lasting progress.
“We must work on mindset change. Your work should be in the rural areas. We can only fetch the dividends after consolidating the achievements while strengthening mindset change. Our communities still believe in witchcraft and many other things which derail uptake of critical health services like vaccination uptake, antenatal regular check-ups, enrolment in school and the recent mpox outbreak where our people think it is witchcraft,” Mulimba emphasized.
Dr. Nandy expressed his gratitude for the warm reception and emphasized that UNICEF’s new country cooperation program under development will be well aligned with the UN Cooperation Framework and Uganda’s development priorities stipulated in the National Development Plan IV. He noted that despite limited resources, well-coordinated plans for cooperation would attract funding and ensure successful program implementation.
Dr. Nandy highlighted UNICEF’s focus on fostering positive social and behavioral change, as well as enhancing resilience in Uganda’s communities, particularly in addressing issues that affect the most vulnerable children.
“We will strengthen our partnership to improve mindsets of the people we serve in the communities. At UNICEF, social behavioural change is integrated into our programming. In our next country programme, we will focus on resilience across all sectors to absorb the shocks, Dr. Nandy revealed.
The meeting concluded with both parties reaffirming their commitment to working closely together to ensure the continued success of development programs aimed at improving the lives of children and enhancing Uganda’s capacity to respond to emerging challenges.
Dr. Robin Nandy brings to Uganda a wealth of experience in global health and development, having previously held leadership roles in countries such as Iran, Indonesia, and India. His extensive background in immunization, child survival, and humanitarian response will be instrumental in guiding UNICEF’s efforts to advance child rights and support Uganda’s development agenda.
