Policy Innovations The central address for a fairer globalization

A publication of the Carnegie Council

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Nikhil Chandavarkar

Chief of Communications and Information Management

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

chandavarkar@un.org

A national of India, Nikhil Chandavarkar holds a Ph.D. in economics from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., where he taught from 1976–1979 and published his dissertation on "The Balance of Payments and Inflation in Brazil." He joined the United Nations in 1979, serving in Paraguay, Colombia and twice in Brazil, where he was Deputy Resident Representative and then interim UNDP Resident Representative/UN Resident Coordinator.

He was Chief of training and learning in UNDP and later Director of External Relations, where he helped strengthen inter-agency coordination and interaction with member states. He later advised policy-makers and policy shapers in various countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America on human development and sustainable development as principal inter-regional adviser in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).

He is presently Chief of Communications and Information Management, UNDESA, with responsibility for communicating and publishing UNDESA's knowledge products and policy messages in economic and social development and building international communities of development knowledge and practice, particularly using information technology. His current responsibilities include leadership for the UNDESA Climate Change knowledge portal and the on-line news magazine DESA News. He is authoring a policy note for governments proposing policy options for sustainable development and recently co-authored a paper for the Club of Rome on transforming values through education for sustainable development in the 21st century. His special interests include human development, sustainable development, and intercultural and inter-religious dialogue.

He is fluent in Arabic, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. He is married to Dr. Marilda Ines Coutinho Chandavarkar, a Brazilian science educator, with whom he has two sons, Neil and Mark, and resides in Scarsdale, N.Y.

Focus: Development, Education, Environment, Brazil, Colombia, India, Paraguay, United States, Americas, Asia, Global