Once more unto the breach for Terence Jones

Published in UNDP Bulletin, September 2003.

This is a time of transition for Terence Jones. Just last month, the Leader of BDP's new Capacity Development Group attended his only daughter's wedding, the first in his family of three children. No sooner had the bouquet been tossed and the last dance danced than he was on a plane bound for New York, sceptical family in tow, bidding farewell to four years in the Philippines. "They're not thrilled," says Terence of the adjustment in store for his sons, aged 13 and 15."They had so many friends in Manila." His wife Lien, on the other hand, is relishing the opportunities provided by living in such a vibrant and diverse community.

For Terence himself, transition is second nature by now. In over three decades of work in the international civil service, the British-born economist has served in countries as disparate as Papua New Guinea and Bhutan, Bangladesh and Malawi. With each new post has come a quantum shift in perspective, he says, "with a new culture, new history, and a brand new relationship between the country and UNDP to absorb. I've always enjoyed that."

Small wonder that as a fresh-faced Nottingham University graduate, he resisted the call of the corporations slavering over his industrial economics degree. Instead, after attending a seminar on volunteering abroad, he cast his lot with the UN Association of UK Volunteers. "At the time they were mainly after doctors and teachers," he recalls. "But there also happened to be a dozen slots for economists. "Having been promised a position in Nigeria, he was miffed to find himself posted to Greece at the last minute. "Of course I protested vigorously," he says. "Greece wasn't idea of a developing country!"

But the assignment turned out to be a charmed one, resulting in a permanent contract with UNDP. This led to a post in Sydney, Australia, an assignment to which Jones also objected until he discovered that the Papua New Guinea programme was managed from there. Later, he served as Area Officer in RBAP in New York before becoming Deputy Resident Representative in Vietnam and Bangladesh, then Resident Coordinator in Bhutan, Malawi and the Philippines. In the meantime, he managed to fit in a master's degree in development economics from New York's New School and a three-year secondment to FAO.

It is this FAO experience that Jones finds uniquely valuable in his new position. "The interagency experience was good for recognising differences in mandates and procedures, and then finding a way to synchronise them," he says. "When I was starting out, UNDP was full of generalists with an economic bent, preoccupied with the challenges of merging our substantive work. Now, it's become the reverse: we can specialise while incorporating elements of the whole."

BDP Director Shoji Nishimoto is delighted with the new addition to his team. "Terence's wealth of field experience and understanding of the needs of country offices will be a bonus for us, as the Bureau continues to strengthen its support to meet the demands of country offices," he says.

Jones shares the Administrator's oft-repeated view that UNDP's future is in integrating advocacy, policy advice and capacity development across its global network. "I believe strongly in the quiet role of UNDP in developing the capacity of the actors in programme countries," he says. "I say 'quiet' because we're not there for glory or recognition. Our role is to help build trust and confidence among governments, civil society, business and academe and to facilitate coalitions thereof."

Still, in this prolonged era of fiscal penny-pinching, Jones acknowledges the delicate balance to be struck between quiet responsiveness and demonstrable results. "To raise money, there is a need to champion our achievements," he admits. "The donors want to know what we're doing and be persuaded of its sustainability."

"Increasingly we are called upon to respond to development challenges in more holistic ways," he continues. "If human development is the 'what' of the issue, capacity development is the 'how'. And our approach to the 'how' is sometimes as important as the answer itself. UNDP prides itself on developing capacities to do things better, rather than prioritising immediate short-term solutions. I believe there's greater sustainability in this approach."

Within this paradigm, Jones sees his group's role as one of support. "There should be no isolation or compartmentalising of ideas," he says.

He cites the war on HIV/AIDS as an example. "The COs have done tremendous work on what it takes to change people's views, to get governments to respond to the crisis," he says. "Have we absorbed this experience and its implications for development as a whole? Have we learned those lessons, applied them to other areas, incorporating crosscutting issues such as gender? It'll be our job to ensure that these learning opportunities are fully explored and mainstreamed."

The fledgling Capacity Development Group will combine the former Capacity 21 (now Capacity 2015), OPARG (Operational Policies and Applied Research Group) and RTC (Reforming Technical Cooperation Initiative). For now the group is leanly staffed, with a job fair planned for the coming months to bring it to full strength.

"For UNDP to deliver well, we need the right instruments at our disposal," says Jones. "If we're not there at the right time and place, we lose our competitive position. We've got great ideas and experiences, but we need the processes to integrate them. After all my years in the field, I appreciate the value of a holistic approach. That's why I've accepted this challenge."