Columbia Center for Oral History Portal > Oral history interview with Dharam Ghai, 2001
Creator: | Ghai, Dharam P. | Project: | United Nations intellectual history project (UNIHP). (see all project interviews) | Phys. Desc. : | sound file : digital preservation master, WAV files (96 kHz, 24 bit) | Location: | Columbia Center for Oral History | Full CLIO record >> |
Biographical NoteUnited Nations -- ILO World Employment Programme; Research Institute for Social Development; Pearson Commission on International Development
Scope and ContentsChildhood in British-colonial Kenya; middle-class upbringing in Nairobi, Kenya; discussion of minoritarian status as South Asian in "semi-apartheid" Kenya and ensuing early appreciation of multilateralism and forms of economic cooperation through impartiality, non-discrimination and affirmative politics; university education at Oxford University during Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya; discussion of increased exposure intellectual and cultural life, and first friendships with students from developing countries and the Commonwealth; discussion of violent nature of Kenyan independence during time at Oxford University; economics professor at Makerere University College in Uganda during independence struggle and early work on development economics; discussion of multidisciplinary East African Institute of Social Research and subsequent development projects; eventual position as director of East African Institute of Social Research and subsequent movement away from teaching; commentary on work for the World Bank funded Pearson Commission, December 1969 to August 1970, discussion of the Robert McNamara funded Pearson Commission's role in building support for development assistance; discussion of extensive work with least-developed countries (LDCs); discussion of the ILO report on employment in Kenya and subsequent change in understanding of value of informal sector, and minimum standard of living; discussion of gender studies influence on the ILO and subsequent adoption of convention of home based work, and rural women migrant workers; in late 1970s director of ILO: Rural Employment Policies Branch and subsequent expanded work on women workers; 1987, director of UNRISD (UN Research Institute for Social Development; discussion of global conferences and their importance in increasing awareness and sensitivity to gender, the environment, and population issues
SubjectsAccess ConditionsCopyright by the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, 2001
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