Remembering David Haxton – A UNICEF Giant
Tributes have been pouring from dozens of former UNICEF colleagues and friends of David Haxton who passed away on 1 August 2019 at the age of 91. The most common phrase used to describe him is that he was “a UNICEF Giant”. It was my great fortune to serve under and collaborate closely with this giant of a thinker, mentor and visionary leader on a number of fascinating assignments during both of our long careers at UNICEF. I first met Dave Haxton in 1975 in Jakarta where he was my boss as UNICEF Representative to Indonesia. I was assigned there as Programme Officer in charge of non-formal education and community development. Haxton was a blunt-speaking, clear-thinking, creative and bold leader. I vividly recall my very first meeting with him at his office in Jakarta. He welcomed me warmly and said something along the following lines: “Kul, you probably don’t know me well, but I know you. That is why I hired you. I expect you to work hard, but not harder than myself. I believe in delegation of authority to my Programme Officers. So, if you are on a field trip and send me a message saying ‘Haxton, send me a blue tie, in a red box with a yellow ribbon’, I will make damn sure that you get that blue tie in a red box with yellow ribbon as fast as possible. No questions asked – because you are my man on the spot and I trust you”. “Of course, when you come back to the office, I will grill you to explain and justify why you made such crazy request. But while in the field on the line of duty, you can always count on my support”. Indeed, Haxton lived up to such commitment, as he mentored, supported and empowered many staff members who served under him. Quite a few of them later rose to global leadership positions in UNICEF, including myself.Throughout its history, UNICEF was always well-known and well-regarded as an effective organization for programme delivery and humanitarian assistance for which it earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965. Going beyond programme delivery, Haxton was one of the early leaders who helped turn UNICEF into a “policy advocacy” organization, even before UNICEF’s legendary leader Jim Grant later refined the art of advocacy to reach new heights of global influence and impact. Indeed, “advocacy” was a key feature of UNICEF programme in Indonesia during the mid-1970s. Under Haxton’s dynamic leadership, UNICEF Jakarta was among the leading promoters and practitioners of “advocacy” which helped sensitize the government and its development partners, including external donors, on the importance of investment in children and social development. I learned much from him about effective advocacy, and he became my role model for trusting and empowering staff, and giving them the benefit of doubt, while being quite demanding.My interactions with Dave continued and even intensified after his retirement, when I served as UNICEF’s Director for Planning and Programmes, and later as Deputy Executive Director. I vividly recall Dave’s last address to the UNICEF Executive Board when he repeated with great passion and emotion his often-quoted trademark remark: “It ought to be a crime that we allow one more child to be born mentally retarded when we know exactly how to prevent it”. The Board certainly took note and applauded him.I had promised Dave that so long as I was in a policy-making position at UNICEF, he could rest assured that UNICEF’s commitment to elimination of IDD would remain strong. He was thrilled when I advised him that we had managed to include “elimination of IDD” and “universal salt iodization” among the key goals for children in the Plan of Action adopted by the 1990 World Summit for Children. That commitment by world leaders, and its follow-up at the Micronutrient Summit in Montreal in 1991, gave a special legitimacy and boost to the work of ICCIDD with which Dave remained closely involved until the end of his life. I recall Dave regularly attended meetings of the UNICEF Executive Board as an observer representing ICCIDD. He sat discreetly at the back of the gallery, quietly but passionately lobbying for greater attention to elimination of iodine deficiency disorders, the world’s single-most preventable cause of mental retardation, poor educational performance and economic productivity. Haxton’s tireless leadership deserves much credit for the virtual elimination of IDD from the world today. Many newcomers among UNICEF staff and the Board were not aware of what a giant Dave had been in UNICEF’s history. Whenever I was at the podium of the Board, I made sure to make eye-contact with him, and often walked over to the gallery to greet him and seek his guidance and blessings. I could see his eyes gleam whenever UNICEF reaffirmed its commitment to elimination of micronutrient malnutrition and reported on the great progress being made. Dave Haxton’s passing marks almost the end of the first generation of UNICEF leaders on whose shoulders UNICEF stands tall today as the world’s premiere organization for the rights and well-being of children. I hope his family will take solace at this moment of grief of his passing in the knowledge that he has earned a rare place in the pantheon of UNICEF Giants that will last for generations.