Advisors

Padmashree Dr Chandrakant Pandav

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Global Advisor - Health and Wellbeing

Bio Description -

Dr. Chandrakant Pandav is known as the “Iodine Man of India” and recipient of Government of India’s prestigious ‘ Padma Award’- 2021 for his Exceptional and Distinguished Service in the Field of Medicine. He is the former Professor and Head of the Department of Centre for Community Medicine (CCM) at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India. Dr. Pandav is presently a Member of the National Council on India Nutrition Challenges under POSHAN Abhiyan which is chaired by the Vice-chairman of NITI Aayog.

Dr. Chandrakant Sambhaji Pandav is the former Professor and Head of the Department of Centre for Community Medicine (CCM) at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India. Dr. Pandav is presently a Member of the National Council on India Nutrition Challenges under POSHAN Abhiyan which is chaired by the Vice-chairman of NITI Aayog.

Dr. Pandav completed his MBBS and MD in Community Medicine from AIIMS New Delhi and M.Sc. from McMaster University Hamilton Canada with specialization in Health Economics, Clinical Epidemiology, and Biostatistics. Dr. Pandav is also an Alumnus of the Department of Human Nutrition at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Dr. Pandav is known as the “Iodine Man of India” as he has been a relentless crusader in the fight for sustainable elimination of Iodine Deficiency Disorders, the single most important cause of mental handicap worldwide according to WHO. His research and advocacy have contributed enormously to the success of the National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme and mandatory Universal Salt Iodization not only in India but worldwide. He is the founding member of the Iodine Global Network recognized by the World Health Assembly as an International Non-governmental Organisation (INGO) and has been the Regional Coordinator South Asia, since 1985. He has been a consultant to the World Health Organization and UNICEF on Iodine Deficiency Disorders IDD since 1983 in over 60 countries in South Asia, Western Pacific, Middle East, and Africa.

Dr. Pandav’s life journey from Village to National to International is simply amazing. He received numerous national and international honours and awards that include the prestigious Dr. M.K. Seshadri Prize and Gold Medal by Indian Council Medical Research in 2000 for his outstanding contributions to the field of Community Medicine. In 2017 Dr. Pandav was bestowed the WHO Public Health Champion Award for his long and sustained contribution to public health through advocacy for and involvement in impactful health policies, strategies, and programmes with proven public health achievements and substantial improvement in health outcomes with equity in the country.

Dr Pandav was conferred with the prestigious “Padma Shri” Award - 2021 for his Exceptional and Distinguished Service in the Field of Medicine. He is extremely active with a number of universities and colleges.

Karan Mangotra

Advisory – Climate Policy

Designation -

A climate change mitigation professional with over 14 years of total experience including 8 years of experience in Energy & Climate Change Policy Advisory & Consulting. He currently is with Country Office of UNEP in New Delhi.

Bio Description –

He was associate Director at The Energy Research Institute ( TERI) in New Delhi. His responsibilities in TERI included providing policy advisory on climate finance & carbon markets, GHG inventories and transparency mechanisms, energy & industry transitions and UNFCCC & Montreal Protocol issues. He led a team of 22 passionate researchers and manages a portfolio of over 20 climate mitigation projects. .He was a part of the committee of directors at TERI to provide strategic guidance for the future research areas for the organisation.

He was involved with preparing the NDCs for India and was a member of the Indian delegation to the UNFCCC Paris COP 21. As a manager of the UNDP-GEF project on EE improvements in Commercial Buildings with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Govt. of India, he have designed fiscal incentives for energy efficiency buildings and developed a regulatory framework for working towards a mandatory ECBC (India’s Energy Conservation Building Code) regime across various states in India. During his 8+ years in the climate mitigation space, he has worked with international, national and sub-national governments. He has a deep understanding of the climate policy framework in India and shares a vast network with the regulatory, academia and industrial stakeholders. During his years of experience he has worked as an analyst, a researcher, a climate mitigation expert and now a manager.

Prakash Keshav Javadekar

Prakash Javadekar

SCCN Global Advisor

Designation -

Member of Upper House of Parliament, Rajysabha , India and former Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Bio Description -

Prakash Keshav Javadekar is a passionate leader and flag-bearer of the social development, inclusive value-based education and sustainable development. He is political champion for making environment and development as seminal agenda for the prosperity of the people and planet. A strong believer in youth’s potential for whom he wants to provide fishing rod and not the fish on platter.

He is specialised in the financing of rural development and is currently an elected Member of the Upper House of the Parliament of India, Rajya Sabha. He has diverse experience at the topmost level when he was the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises and Minister of Human Resource Development

Erik Solheim

SCCN Global Advisor

Designation -

Former Under Secretary General, UN, Former Executive Director, UN Environment.

Bio Description –

Following an extensive career focusing on environment and development in government and international organizations, Erik Solheim was Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme between May 2016 and November 2018.

Prior to joining UN Environment, Solheim was the chair of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. In this capacity, Solheim emphasized the role of private sector and tax in development finance, spearheading the Sustainable Development Investment Partnership and the Addis Tax Initiative. Solheim also focused on the need to channel more aid to least developed countries and bring new members and partners to the Development Assistance Committee.

From 2007 to 2012, Solheim held the combined portfolio of Norway’s Minister of the Environment and International Development, and from 2005 to 2007 served as Minister of International Development. This unique portfolio mixture allowed him to bring a coherent approach to development and the environment.

During his time as Minister, Norwegian aid reached 1 per cent, the highest in the world. Solheim also put into place the Nature Diversity Act, which many consider to be Norway’s most important piece of environmental legislation in the last 100 years. The Norwegian Climate and Forest Initiative, in which Norway cooperates closely with Brazil, Indonesia, Guyana and other countries to conserve rainforests, was also established under Solheim. This initiative provided critical input to the establishment of UN REDD, the global coalition to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries.

Solheim is also an experienced peace negotiator, having acted as the main facilitator of the peace process in Sri Lanka from 1998 to 2005. The peace process led to a ceasefire and the Oslo Declaration in 2002, where parties welcomed a federal state in Sri Lanka. He continued to lead peace efforts in Sri Lanka as Minister, and has contributed to peace processes in Sudan, Nepal, Myanmar and Burundi.

In addition to his role in government and international development, Solheim served has UN Environment’s Special Envoy for Environment, Conflict and Disaster and a Patron of Nature for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. He has also received a number of awards for his work on climate and the environment, including UN Environment’s Champions of the Earth award, TIME Magazine’s Hero of the Environment, and an honorary doctorate from TERI University in Delhi, India. He has also written three books: Den store samtalen, Naermere, and Politikk er a ville

Prof. Dr. Joe Thomas

Erik Solheim

Senior Advisor – Health and SDGs

Designation -

MSc, PhD, an accomplished academic, diplomat and a global leader in Public Health, Rights and Social Development

Bio Description –

Dr Joe Thomas (MSc, PhD), an accomplished academic, diplomat and a global leader in Public Health, Rights and Social Development. He has been active in Global Health and Social Development for more than 25 years. He comes with excellent leadership qualities and has a deeper understanding of the global dimension of social development. He has extensive and exhaustive technical expertise in reproductive health and health rights, emergencies; experience in analysing data and reports. He has proven excellent experience in administration and management of complex multi-stakeholder projects and correctly as applied to high-level strategic engagements; and proven expertise in a cross-cutting, multi-cultural work environment in Africa, and Asia regions.

Dr Thomas worked as the Executive Director of an intergovernmental organisation of 26 governments – Partners in Population and Development (PPD). In this capacity he represented PPD at the UN General Assembly in New York and the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva; spoke at the UN General Assembly on issues related Antimicrobial Resistance, Sustainable development goals, migration and refugee compact and South-South Cooperation. Reported to a high-power board of directors – 26 ministers of 26 member countries. Chaired by the Minister for Health of the Government of China and the Vice-Chair was the Health Minister of India.
Dr Thomas has hosted the following International Inter-Ministerial Conferences. “Sustainable Cities, Human Mobility and International Migration” in November 2017 at Yogyakarta, Indonesia; “Priority Population and Development Challenges in the Context of SDGs” in November 2016 in Dakar, Senegal; “Every Woman Every Child Every Adolescent: a South-South Perspective on Survive, Thrive and Transform” in November 2015 in Dhaka, Bangladesh; “Demographic Dividend” in November 2014 in New Delhi, India; “Post-ICPD and MDGs” in October 2013 in Beijing, China; “Evidence for Action: South-South Collaboration for ICPD beyond 2014” in November 2012 in Dhaka Bangladesh.

In addition to the above International Inter-Ministerial Conferences, the following strategic meetings were also organised: 5 Ministerial level Board Meetings, in Bangladesh (2012), China (2013), India (2014), Bangladesh (2015) and Senegal (2016); nine high-level ministerial EXCOM Meetings, hosted in Bangladesh (2012 & 2015), Uganda (2013), China (2013, 2015 & 2016), Zimbabwe (2014), India (2014) and Senegal (2016); seven Senior officials-Program Committee Meetings, hosted in Bangladesh (2012 & 2015), Uganda (2013), China (2013), Zimbabwe (2014), India (2014) and Senegal (2016); seven Senior officials – Finance Committee Meetings, hosted in Bangladesh (2012 & 2015), Uganda (2013), China (2013), Zimbabwe (2014), India (2014) and Senegal (2016); six-Senior Officials – PPD Country coordinators Meetings, hosted in Bangladesh (2012 & 2014); China (2013 & 2015), India (2014) and Senegal (2016). Dr Thomas was the Organizing Secretary of the 12th International Congress on AIDS in the Asia Pacific.

Dr Thomas was the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, the Founding Director and Professor of Social Determinants of Health and Social Policy at the Jodhpur National University. In that capacity, he has supervised PhD Students and created a scholarship program for about 150 staff from the Ministry of Public Health of the Government of Afghanistan to do their MPH course.

Worked as a Consultant to the Premier's office, Provincial Government Kwazulu Natal, South Africa to assess Premiers flagship programme for poverty reduction, health equity and youth and women’s empowerment. With UNAIDS; he carried out “Engaging an Enemy Within HIV response of Indian paramilitary forces; A case study of the ‘Assam Rifles’”. With UNDP Mongolia, he carried out International STI/ HIV/AIDS Assessment. With Action Aid Asia Regional Office. Bangkok. Prepared a regional strategy based on the regional situation assessment report “Time to Act”.

Dr Thomas is the Founding Director-General of Global Commission on Ageing in Developing Countries as the Director of UNAIDS Technical Support Facility- Dr Thomas has Developed dynamic networks with Global Fund, WB, UNHCR, IOM, UNAIDS, UNFPA and UNICEF. Dr Thomas has lived and worked and carried out consultancies in India, Hong Kong, China, Australia, East Timor, Nepal, Bangladesh, Mongolia, South Africa, Rwanda, Burundi, Geneva, UK and travelled to another 50 countries. He has worked as Advisor and Short-Term consultant to WHO on several projects.

Dr Thomas is currently, working as the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Social Innovation, Partnerships and co-creation, at the MIT World Peace University, where he is supervision the establishment of 10 new schools.

Dr Thomas is also currently engaged with the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO) as a consultant. ‘To develop a Strategic Plan for WHO SEARO to promote actions that require political leadership from member states and health diplomacy and cooperation between them for reducing the burden of communicable diseases in South East Asia Region.’

About

Advisors

Padmashree Dr Chandrakant Pandav

Global Advisor - Health and Wellbeing

Bio Description -

Karan Mangotra

Advisory – Climate Policy

Designation -

Bio Description –

Prakash Keshav Javadekar

SCCN Global Advisor

Designation -

Bio Description -

Erik Solheim

SCCN Global Advisor

Designation -

Bio Description –

Prof. Dr. Joe Thomas

Senior Advisor – Health and SDGs

Designation -

Bio Description –

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