The Islamic Educational Centre hosted Dr Indran Naidoo, director of the United National Development Programme (UNDP), at the school this past week when he addressed the senior learners.
Dr Naidoo, a former Ladysmith resident and alumni, holds a number of qualifications, including a PHd, and is one of the most influential members at the United Nations. He has just returned from Freetown in Sierra Leone and a stint in Afghanistan overseeing the presidential elections. Prior to joining the UNDP, Mr Naidoo held several oversight positions in South Africa.
From 1995 to 2000, he served as director of Monitoring & Evaluation in the National Department of Land Affairs, where he established the country’s first evaluation unit.
In 2000, he was promoted to the independent constitutional oversight body and helped set up transversal oversight systems to assess and report on government performance. He served as its chief director until 2008 and deputy director-general for both Leadership & Management Practices and Monitoring & Evaluation until 2012.
His work in these institutions evaluated government performance against democratic and transformational initiatives and policies, and he engaged with citizens, media, parliaments and oversight bodies in presenting findings on the performance of departments that were investigated and assessed.
He participated in an interactive session with the learners and shared insights on such hotspots as Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and some of the countries within the UNDP family.
