ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

¡°With Afghanistan, it was love at first sight.¡± Susana Rico, a ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ (WFP) veteran who is now heading the organization¡¯s newly opened office in Venezuela, recalls the days when she landed in Kabul on her first field assignment, as Deputy Country Director. It was 2002 and a new government was being formed. When asked what made her fall in love, Rico is adamant: ¡°It¡¯s the resilience of the people. Even after 20 years of war, they still had hope.¡±

As she stepped off the plane, still on the airport tarmac, she was told she would be officer in charge as the Country Director was away. ¡°It did not hit me,¡± Rico says, ¡°I just took it one day at a time.¡± Finding herself in charge of WFP¡¯s largest operation at the time, with 1,200 staff, 600 trucks and an extremely complex pipeline ¨C further complicated by a tortuous road network and infrastructure shattered by two decades of war ¨C was not easy. ¡°My learning curve was like climbing a grease pole,¡± she says, laughing. 

But years of poring over documents in her role at the organization¡¯s Executive Board meant she ¡°knew every policy, every mechanism¡±. That, combined with support from long-serving staff, meant she quickly got to grips with the ins and outs of the operation. 

¡°What I am most proud of is the impact we had on education,¡± Rico says. As schools started to open up to girls, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳started giving their parents a can of oil as an extra incentive on top of the regular 50 kg bag of wheat handed out to all schoolchildren. ¡°In a country where the birth of boys was celebrated while girls were considered a burden, this started making girls valuable.¡± It was a small, incremental paradigm shift. ¡°Families would see the financial benefit of educating their girls, who, as a result, would learn to read and write.¡±

Having previously worked in the Population Division in the UN¡¯s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Rico knew that this could set off a virtuous circle. ¡°The education of girls is a determinant factor for a country¡¯s development,¡± she explains. ¡°A girl who has an education is a powerful tool for change. She will likely have fewer children, and fewer children means they¡¯ll have better chances of surviving and better prospects in life. By the third year of doing this, you can really change a country¡¯s demography ¨C and we were making this happen in Afghanistan.¡±

I had a UN career ¨C and then I became a humanitarian

It can only be hoped that the progress made was not in vain, given latest developments in the country and concerns for its future. ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳continues to deliver across all 34 Afghan provinces despite the challenges.

Rico was not a natural born humanitarian. She joined the UN in New York as a typist at the age of 28 to pay her way through college. ¡°I was a very good typist,¡± she jokes ¨C her trademark laughter, which she describes as her ¡°resilience mechanism¡±, breaking out again. Her work, her studies and her inquisitive mind set her off on a UN career. ¡°But it was only after I joined ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳and learned about its work that I became a humanitarian.¡± 

After leaving Afghanistan ¨C ¡°I would have stayed on another 10 years, if asked¡±, she says ¨C Rico worked in a number of ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳programmes across different continents, including complex emergencies and conflict-torn countries.

Whether it is Afghanistan, Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo or her new duty station in Venezuela, ¡°knowing that what you do is having an impact on people¡¯s lives is a feeling that moves you from the gut,¡± she says. ¡°You feel you can do things. You begin to see the areas where you can make a difference. And that¡¯s an incredibly powerful motivator ¨C to get up in the morning and know you can make somebody¡¯s life better.¡±

Referencing the four principles that drive humanitarian action ¨C humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence ¨C she says: ¡°To me, humanity is embedded in everything we do.¡± To these principles, Rico adds a special ingredient of her own: humility. 

¡°We offer assistance, not impose it. We negotiate access, not demand it. Whether it¡¯s governments or other parties, we must never come across as arrogant, as that creates frictions and can put our very colleagues at risk, especially in conflict situations. If you rub a war lord against the grain, you don¡¯t know what the consequences might be,¡± she says. 

As the anniversary of WFP¡¯s Nobel Peace Prize approaches, Rico reflects on her experience in war-ravaged countries. ¡°There are things we can do to improve the lives of people living through conflict. But the decision to start and feed those conflicts is well above their heads ¨C and ours. Think of Afghanistan: the daily investment in warfare could surely have solved all the infrastructure, education, health and hunger problems,¡± she says. 

¡°Even in the midst of war, however, people need to have a life. They even manage to find some kind of normalcy. And I just want for ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳to be able to help them.¡±

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