INTERVIEW WITH OLGA ALGAYEROVA, Executive Secretary of the UNECE

August 11, 2023

INTERVIEW WITH OLGA ALGAYEROVA, Executive Secretary of the UNECE

She is a familiar face in the United Nations, having served as the UNECE Executive Secretary since 2017. Friendly, hard-working, result-oriented, clever – these are some of the words people use to describe her. In other words, it is unsurprising that she has achieved so much during her tenure. Soon she will be leaving UNECE, after six years, during which she has reshaped the organization, made it shine like a diamond.

On a more personal note, we would like to show our gratitude and thank her, for she has always been very kind to us at Diva. She gave us her first interview in 2017 just after she had arrived, and now, before leaving after six years of faithful and hard work, she found in her busy schedule a slot to answer our questions. The floor is yours Ms. Executive-Secretary…

Q: You arrived in Geneva to serve as the UNECE Secretary General in 2017, your first United Nations appointment. Has your attitude to the Organization (as a whole) evolved over this time?

I wanted to work for the United Nations 10 years before I came. I applied for different positions, for I really appreciate what the United Nations is doing for the world, in the sense of not only economic and environmental cooperation but also in the field, on the peacekeeping and humanitarian side, on the human rights side, etc. So, when I came here in 2017, I came with big ideals, and I was very proud that I could work for an organization whose values I appreciate. My view hasn’t changed. Maybe I see more details about how it works? Maybe I wished for a more agile, more flexible organization in some situations, but this is what also the Secretary General sees and wants to change. It does not always depend on us but on the member states. There’s a lot of diplomacy involved, and it’s not easy to achieve reforms or to change the world or to reach a consensus among member states. You need to be patient, and people who are outsiders to the organization may not see the difficulties and criticize the UN. I stand even firmer in my appreciation of the organization.

Q: The UNECE was a conflict-torn organization when you arrived. You have managed to resolve the conflicts, and create a positive image of the organization. Could you tell us how you managed to do so, what your secret has been?

Well, thank you for assessing that I managed to do that. There is no secret formula. You just talk to people, and try to find the root of the conflict, allow for open communication with everyone. If you understand the conflict and people can express themselves, then you can find solutions, like some mediation between conflicting parties. You need to establish clear rules, so that everybody understands the rules and procedures, then you ask them to follow the rules and procedures. If nothing helps, ask the assistance of the Mediator or the Ombudsman.

I reached out twice for the assistance of the Ombudsman. Another important factor is to try to break the silences and push people to cooperate. Cooperation many times, helps, to avoid a conflict because if contending parties need to deliver a joint result, they need to cooperate. So, this is how I proceeded, and it worked.

Q: What is the event (or events) that marked you most during your stay at the United Nations, and during your career in the UNECE?

There were so many events of which I’m proud, so many, some small, some big and some very big ones, at the global level, at the regional level, or even at the country level.

One of which I’m particularly proud of is that every second year, we have a commission session. Historically, in the UNECE, we had never had a substantive topic for a commission session. We were always speaking about rules and procedures that we needed to change, and then we suggested to member states to change them in order for the work to go smoother. Of course, this didn’t attract the political attention of the ministers, for instance. So, I tried from my very first commission session to introduce a substantive topic. The first time I finally managed to do so was in 2021, when the topic was the circular economy. I’m very proud we did so. Not many organizations are really so strongly and visibly working on that issue. For me, a circular economy is something that is needed for humanity. We are exhausting natural resources from the planet in a model of linear growth, and we need to close the circle. Many people understand it as just a separation and recycling of waste, but it’s not. It’s from the design of the product, to the production, to the distribution and then to trade. So everywhere, you can find circularity. We need to go there because only 7.2 percent of the global economy is circular. So, I’m very proud that in 2021, we had very good participation of ministers and deputy ministers, and that our member states made the commitment to increase this circularity in our region. This year’s topic was, again, a very good one: Digital and Green Transformations for Sustainable Development.

I hope it becomes a tradition in UNECE to have substantive topics. It was intentional on my side, to introduce a topic that is cross-sectoral. In the area of circular economy, you have everything: environment, energy, transport, trade, cities, water, statistics. It is the same with “digital and green.” It’s cross-sectoral, and in the United Nations, we need to do much more cross-sectoral collaborations. Among the governments too this is the same case. The ministries have their own budgets and they also work in siloes. So, we need to break this.

I consider the 2030 Agenda elements interlinked. How can we speak about transport without speaking about energy and the environment? It’s not possible in my mind. This is the reason why it was difficult, but it was nevertheless very successful. And the decisions adopted at the commission sessions will be leading our work for the next years. Our program of work goes down to the steering committees; to the working groups, to groups of experts. It’s really a transformation of the whole organization.

Speaking about my tenure of six years, I’m also proud that I was part of the development pillar, the whole United Nations Development Reform, where I am the co-vice-chair of the regional cooperative platform. In our region, we have about 30 regional United Nations entities. This has been a systematic effort and has been challenging for all agencies, funds and programmes to adapt to a new, coordinated approach in the ways we work together. It required much creativity. The condition was to implement the reform without any additional resources.

We created Knowledge Management Hubs, and many other things. You know, it goes from the global to the regional, and then to the country level participating in cooperation frameworks with the governments, and cooperating closely with the new generation of resident coordinators. It’s a lot of work beyond that, a lot of time, a lot of energy, but I believe our region is doing well in the implementation phase. It’s not perfect, there are still some things to do, but the basic direction is given.

Q: Looking back, how would you describe tenure? Did you come here with precise ideas, and goals? If yes, have you managed to realize those goals?

Of course, I came with some visions based on my former career experience. That means 15 years in the private sector, five years as Slovak Deputy Foreign Minister, five years as a permanent representative ambassador, some years in the non-governmental sector. You have everything in there, and of course, you come with some goals. Of course, I needed to modify them on my way. It was really during my first two or three months upon coming to the organization: I just needed to confront my goals with what I had on hand.

I was also studying a lot, and consulted with the whole staff. I made consultations on what should be the mission, the vision and the strategic goals of the organization. Of course, it was modified from my original vision, but I believe a lot of it was accomplished, and I do hear it from member states. They appreciate the work done. Of course, now, the situation is difficult in the region following the war in Ukraine.

Just today, I explained: what is the mandate of the organization? What are the mission and vision, the goals and the mandate given to us back in 1947. It is all about cooperation across our broad, multisectoral sustainable development mandate. I encourage all our member states to remember and respect this role today. Multilateral cooperation on economic and environmental issues remains highly important, for the benefit of people living in the region, especially in times of tensions arising from political and military conflicts.

At the mid-point of Agenda 2030, as evidenced in our latest SDG progress report, the panorama is not very positive. We are going to regress. So how do we move forward in the future?

Q: You were in charge and managed three Commission sessions. One of them was the anniversary (75^th anniversary), and you have just finished the session. How do you see the relevance of the UNECE through these sessions (over these years) – is it increasing, is there stagnation, is it not losing direction? The Commission was created in 1947 to help to reconstruct Europe after WWII. How relevant is the Commission today?

I strongly believe that the relevance of UNECE has increased over the years. Again, by putting in the substantive topics and just bringing it into all levels of the organization and also to the governments. Yes, we were established after the Second World War, and now, as I just described to you, we have again war in Europe. So it’s very sad, it is against international law and against the United Nations Charter, but as diplomats we need to be able to sit at one table and discuss potential solutions. Talking about the relevance of UNECE in this situation, we are working very closely with the government of Ukraine. There is a lot for us to do there. We have 12 direct requests for support from Ukraine. I’m in touch with all their ministers. We are, of course, working together with our partners from the United Nations system because the UNECE is a small organization. We also work with external partners like the EU, OECD, and many others, coordinating our actions.

A lot of our activities are designed to support the Ukrainian government’s reconstruction efforts. Our standards, norms and legislation, can help in many areas, and for this we don’t need to wait until the end of the war.

For instance, UNECE is coordinating an interagency group on environmental damage assessment. This is essential to start to plan for measures to restore ecosystems and address environmental impacts. You need to start working on the legislation now, and Ukraine has dedicated a lot of energy to these processes already. So, we are supporting the government in this and trying to bring together as many partners as possible.

On our side, we are well coordinated with donors and with our UN partners. It is important to be really organized and focused and bring synergies with all actors.

Q: What is your vision for the future UNECE?

I wish to say, look, we were here for 75 years in bad and good times, I don’t see a reason why we should not be here for another 75 years, at least in good and bad times.

Q: If you have a message to your successor what would that be?

I welcome my successor in the leadership of the organization. I wish him or her a lot of success. I hope the respect of the organization will grow with whoever comes here. I don’t want to make any bias to his or her vision of the future of the organization, but of course, I will make myself available if the person reaches out to me.

Q: Finally, do you have any plans for your future? If yes, do you plan to return to politics or going back to diplomacy?

I don’t know yet, but I believe there is a place in the world for me. As I told you earlier, I came from the private sector, I’m an economist, I’m a diplomat. I was working in diplomacy, so I have my stable place in Slovak diplomacy, as well as in the private sector. And again, working in the markets, traveling and meeting governments may be from another perspective and a nice place to be.

Leaving this dynamic woman in her office, we only hope to see more of her kind in the United Nations, and we wish her all the best of luck and success in all her endeavours.