Mr. Kul Chandra Gautam is a distinguished international civil servant, development professional, public policy expert, and human rights activist. He is a former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. He has extensive experience in international diplomacy, development cooperation, and humanitarian assistance.

Mr. Gautam serves on the Boards of several international and national organizations, charitable foundations, and public-private partnerships. Currently, he is Chair of the Board of anti-poverty advocacy organization RESULTS.org (USA), Chair of the International Advisory Group of the inter-faith organization Arigatou International (Japan); Ambassador of Religions for Peace (USA), and a Trustee of The Power of Nutrition (UK).

In Nepal, Mr. Gautam serves as Special Advisor of the Nepal Public Health Foundation, Member of the Advisory Board of the Nepal Economic Forum, Patron of the Hima Gautam Memorial Trust in Gulmi, and is affiliated with several other organizations, including Rotary International. In 2010-11, he served as Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Nepal on International Affairs and the Peace Process.

Mr. Gautam collaborated closely with UNICEF’s legendary leader, James P. Grant, in the global child survival and development campaigns in the 1980s and 90s. On behalf of UNICEF, he contributed to crafting the Millennium Development Goals, the predecessors of today’s Sustainable Development Goals. He participated actively in the High-level Forum on Health MDGs, the International Health Partnership, and the Global Campaign for Health MDGs. He also served as UNICEF representative on the Boards of the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization (GAVI) & Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) during 2002-2007.