With India’s rising influence in the international community, one of the important, but less spoken about aspects of its soft power is its contribution to international development, particularly through Indian nationals working overseas across various multilateral agencies (UN), international NGOs (INGOs), Foundations, consultancy firms, research bodies (Universities) and think tanks.
The accelerated rise of India in the last decade has strengthened its confidence, participation and contribution at the international level to influence trans-national governance, particularly with respect to its role in multilateral discourse and negotiations in development policy, trade and climate change. In terms of India’s role in global security, so far, India has contributed over 160,000 troops to 43 of 64 UN peacekeeping operations, and over 150 Indian armed and police forces personnel have laid down their lives while fighting for the UN’s blue flag.
Apart from holding prominent positions within the UN system, Indian nationals (both women and men) continue to hold important leadership positions overseas in leading INGOs such as Save the Children, CARE, World Vision, OXFAM, ActionAid, Family Health International, Mercy Corps, Danish Refugee Council, Medicine Sans Frontiers, International Rescue Committee, Marie Stopes International, EngenderHealth etc. to name a few. I have served as country director for leading INGOs in two Asian countries and two African countries, before returning to India to head the Asia regional office of another INGO that has its head office in the US.
The jobs or roles in the international development sector are rich and diverse, covering health and family planning, education, economic empowerment and livelihood, environment, infrastructure, systems strengthening, good governance, child rights and child protection, gender, human rights, legal reform, migration, emergency response and disaster relief, post disaster recovery and development, to name a few. There are also jobs in cross cutting support functions such as finance, compliance, research, Monitoring and Evaluation, quality assurance, audit, IT, supply and logistics etc. An analysis of staff profiles of some of the leading INGOs and UN agencies will show many Indians occupying key positions in all these areas.
So, what is special about INWID and why are they important for India?
Despite tough global competition and rigorous multi-stage recruitment processes, Indians are continuing to occupy numerous positions in international organizations, particularly in INGOs, multilateral bodies (including the UN) and global research agencies and foundations, and you will find them working in the most remote places in the world and under all possible conditions.
While INWIDs do not represent India officially, they represent certain well-recognized and acknowledged attributes that reflect upon India in a profound way. The predominant perception of INWIDs within their respective organizations and host countries is that they are highly educated, well trained, competent, well informed, hardworking, clear headed, analytical, articulate, innovative, and easy to get along. And my assessment comes from over 22 years of experience with International agencies (including 8 years with UKAID in India), 12 of which have been in overseas postings.
Because they are selected through a highly competitive global recruitment process, by default, INWIDs represent some of the best minds-and-hands that India has to offer to the rest of the world. INWIDs form a substantial part of the international pool of highly competent, passionate and courageous professionals dedicated to working on sustainable development by helping host governments, other national stakeholders and local populations build skills and resources to find sustainable solutions to the problems they face. They are making seminal contributions to policies, strategies and practices that aim to improve well-being in the socioeconomic realms in host countries, whether it is during peace or during conflicts and disasters. They may not represent India politically, but through their contribution and conduct, they represent India’s intellectual and human capital.
In more ways than one, INWIDs are essentially sharing much needed skills and capabilities from India to rest of the world, and are being increasingly recognized for their contribution to sustainable global development. Apart from the regular foreign exchange remittance they make in India, they are subtly but surely working as informal goodwill and intellectual ambassadors of India to rest of the world, and contributing to India’s soft power, in their own spontaneous, understated way.
The Government of India might want to engage with this community in the future, not only to support them in their role as informal goodwill ambassadors of India, but also as a source of knowledge, ideas and good practices from rest of the world, for India to access.
source https://indiaoutbound.org/indian-nationals-working-in-international-development-inwid-indias-understated-soft-power/
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