Konrad Osterwalder, Rector and Under-Secretary General Biography
Konrad Osterwalder was born in Switzerland, in June 1942. He studied at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule; ETH) in Zurich, where he earned a Diploma and then a Doctorate in Theoretical Physics. After a year at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, he moved to Harvard University, where he first held a research position and was later promoted to Assistant and then Associate Professor of Mathematical Physics. After 7 years on the faculty of Harvard he returned to Switzerland as Professor of Mathematical Physics at ETH Zurich. During his tenure at ETH Zurich, Rector Osterwalder served as both member and chair university boards in Switzerland, in Germany, in France and in Italy. At ETH he was Head of the Department of Mathematics for four years. For 12 years he was the Rector of ETH and served concurrently as ETH President pro tempore until he joined the United Nations University as its fifth rector. Rector Osterwalder holds the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
The United Nations Conference on the world financial and economic crisis and its impact on development is being held at the UN Headquarters in New York this June.
The United Nations University is pleased to cooperate with this very important event. Indeed, the United Nations University has the responsibility to help explain what is at stake in this crisis and what should be done by the international community and member states to overcome the grave problems that we currently face.
With this in mind over the past weeks, the United Nations University, with the support of the UNTV Studio has worked on creating the UNU Conversation Series. The objective of this series is to bring clarity to some of the key issues at the center of the crisis.
The United Nations University has interviewed some of the most important intellectual and policy voices from around the globe. This includes experts from the United Nations University, but also the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
Through these conversations, you will have the opportunity to learn about the causes of the economic crisis, how this crisis manifests itself in the developed and developing world, how long it is likely to continue and, perhaps more importantly, what can be done to address it.
The seriousness and the complexity of the current economic situation calls for a better analysis of what happened in the past year. We need to understand how events may unfold in the future and what it means for our individual and collective lives.
The financial crisis, which almost brought bank lending to a standstill, has been a dominating global issue ever since the sub-prime mortgage debacle came to a head in the United States, in October last year.
Within a few months, what started as falling asset prices, became a global economic crisis, as consumption, investment and growth slumped across the world. In 2009, for the first time since the Second World War, the global economy will contract by an estimated 1.3 per cent.
For over one billion people that live in extreme poverty in the world’s developing nations, these two shocks the financial crisis and the economic crisis – come hard on the heels of unprecedented spikes in food and fuel prices in 2007 and 2008. This is taking place amidst growing concerns about the impact of climate change, which is widely expected to take a more severe toll on the world’s poor.
Simply stated, the crisis has caused a ‘development emergency’.
Millions of people across the world have lost their jobs, have seen their health, education and peace prospects suffer, their outlook for escaping poverty perhaps permanently marred. It is a dark episode in the world’s recent history, particularly given that it could have been avoided.
By now we all realize that it has not been caused by poor and developing countries; it is rather a consequence of greed, neglect and failed attempts at quick fixes in the world’s richest societies. Moreover, this crisis comes at a time when many developing countries have started to maintain higher growth rates and make inroads into poverty reduction.
How the world will overcome the current crisis, how it will prepare itself for the challenges of climate change, may significantly depend on the outcomes of two crucial events taking place this year. The first of these is the United Nation’s Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development, which I have already mentioned. The second, is the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference which will take place from the 7th until the 18th of December in Copenhagen. The success of these events is vital.
In this context, the United Nation’s University, whose mission it is to contribute to resolving pressing global problems, will continue to actively contribute to the debates. Recently, our research has emphasized the need to address the economic crisis through cooperation and coordination across countries and regions.
One immediate task is to ensure that confidence and trust in a properly regulated financial system are restored. We also need measures to reduce and mitigate the impact on developing countries.
These should ensure that the demand for goods produced in developing countries recovers quickly; that aid commitments are kept, disbursements accelerated, and that “bridge financing” is readily available. But it is also important to assist developing countries in coping with the effects of the crisis.
Here, social safety nets for the most vulnerable, and maintenance of political and social stability need to be prioritized. However this must not lead to the accumulation of unsustainable future debts or fuel another boom-bust cycle. These immediate measures can only address the symptoms.
Over the long term, fundamental structural changes are needed in the global financial architecture. Foremost, in order to address macro-economic imbalances and global inequalities.
The upcoming UN Conference is an opportunity for the world’s nations to craft such a collective response towards recovery. In doing so, they can lay the foundations for more meaningful, sustainable and inclusive future global development.
One of the missions of the United Nations University is to offer a global perspective on pressing issues. We call upon a variety of viewpoints, with a practical orientation, on questions of worldwide relevance, including development, security and environment.
The UNU Conversation Series and the intellectual forum that it represents, is only one of the ways in which the United Nations University is putting knowledge and ideas at the service of global policy debates. I hope you will find this useful.
Thank you.
