Shillong man new assistant president of IFAD

SHILLONG, Feb 19 – Once again a son of North-east India has done the region proud. Phrang Roy, who hails from Shillong, capital of Meghalaya, has just been selected as Assistant President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a press release stated. Mr Phrang Roy's promotion now equates him with an Assistant Secretary General in the UN system. Mr Roy is presently the Director for its Asia and Pacific Division and is based in Rome. He will be taking charge of IFADs Economic Policy and Resource Mobilization division.

Roy's selection was officially announced after the meeting of the IFAD Governing Council, and after stiff competition from more than 500 other applicants for the post from other various UN and international agencies.

Roy is the son of late Bah BW Roy and Kong Liniency Lyngdoh Mawlong. He passed out from St Edmunds School and did his BSc (Hons) Physics from St Edmunds College. He then finished his MSc (Econ) from the London School of Economics. In 1970 he qualified for the IAS and was allotted the Maharashtra cadre. Mr Roy then went on deputation for a UN assignment and was subsequently absorbed into IFAD in 1981. He has over 30 years experience in development oriented cooperation at both project implementation level and policy making levels and has worked mainly in southern and English speaking Africa. He was on deputation to the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Bangkok from 1991-95. He became Division chief of UNOPS Asia Office, Kuala Lumpur from 1995-97. In 1997 he became Director for IFADs Asia Pacific Division, a post he held till his recent promotion to Assistant President.

It is relevant to mention that Roy, a tribal from Meghalaya, is the first and only tribal from around the world to ever reach this post. He is also the first and only staff member of IFAD to be ever selected to this high profile political position of the United Nations. It is indeed a privileged and an honour not only to the community that Roy belongs to but to the entire NE region that one of her sons has been able to reach such heights in the international arena.

IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations with the specific mandate of combating hunger and poverty in the most disadvantaged regions of the world. Since 1978 IFAD has financed 578 projects in 115 countries, allocating almost US $ 7 billion in the form of loans and grants. Through these projects, about 250 million rural people have had a chance to move out of poverty. The North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCRMP) is one of such projects that aim specifically at the upliftment of the vulnerable upland farmers of the north-eastern India. The areas of operation in the North East are West Garo Hills and West Khasi Hills districts in Meghalaya, North Cachar Hills and Karbi Anglong districts in Assam, Senapati and Ukhrul districts in Manipur.