UNFPA president calls for a social conscience

Anika Rahman, once a savvy Wall Street business lawyer and now president of the U.S. Committee for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), recently came to speak to Tech students about the business and entrepreneurial aspects of her job.

Rahman, who started the U.S. chapter of UNFPA, spoke on campus this Tuesday. She joined the weekly Impact Speaker Series targeted toward Management and MBA students to give her lecture.

In her lecture, Rahman focused on the need for involvement in the global nonprofit sector.

"I was taught that the sky was the limit...individuals [can] make a difference in the world," Rahman said.

Rahman graduated from Columbia Law School with a degree in International Law, but her passion for foreign policy landed her in a very prestigious yet financially humble career.

Some members of the audience expressed amazement at such tidbits from Rahman's unconventional past.

"She was a big corporate lawyer and left her job to work for the nonprofit sector," said Amy Sachsenmaier, a fourth-year Management major.

"Wealth is the quality of people's lives...[and] how you measure the impact of a nonprofit," Rahman said in response to this.

As the creator of a startup nonprofit organization, Rahman is constantly trying to positively change the world.

"[Entrepreneurship] is the pursuit of a discontinuous opportunity...in the market of selling ideas," Rahman said of the entrepreneurial component of her job.

Rahman started the organization in 1998 with a couple of lawyers who had no educational background or experience in business administration. Since then, the organization has grown into a corporate enterprise.

"My job in the UNFPA is to sell and market the idea that Americans should be involved in a global change," Rahman said.

However, organizing and leading does not cut it for Rahman, who has also used her entrepreneurial risk-taking to sue Peru at an International American Court for human rights violations in rape and terrorism.

"No matter what [one's] career pursuit, think globally...act locally but act socially responsible," Rahman said.

Rahman also works extensively, traveling and speaking to audiences all over the United States.

"I talk to different audiences around the country. I am in the talking phase, not the writing phase," Rahman said.

Rahman mainly focuses on issues of women's equality and empowerment. She is trying to take a humanitarian approach to mitigating poverty by establishing women's health policies.

According to Rahman, there are 200 million women who want but cannot get contraceptives, and 600 million women in the world are illiterate.

"You can recruit women, you can educate and train women workers...[and you should give them] access to women's contraception," Rahman said.

A major part of Rahman's job is securing funding for these initiatives. She has proposed lowering prices for certain markets, specializing in the distribution and manufacturing of contraception and improving the working standards of employees.

However, Congress is currently withholding $34 million from UNFPA, which "prevents us from taking active roles in women's [lives] around the world," Rahman said.

Rahman also mentioned that it is important for independent corporations, especially those affiliated with the United Nations, to offer direct financial support and donate cars, hospital equipment and medicine abroad.

"If possible, it is crucial to send employees as volunteers and have companies match resources with other companies around the world to achieve women's empowerment," Rahman said.

"Everyone doesn't have to work in the nonprofit sector, but everyone has the responsibility to impact the world," Rahman said.

Rahman also works on marketing socially conscious ads to raise awareness about issues of women's equality among the general public.

"Impoverished nations are unstable...it makes sense at every level [to be] socially conscious," Rahman said of the ads.

According to Rahman, women need to be represented around the world and their needs have to be met.

Rahman said she wanted to get college students involved in bringing globalization closer to home. She wants students to be actively involved in human and social rights.

"This is the time to learn about the world, to be a social entrepreneur," Rahman said.

More information about Americans for UNFPA can be found at www.americansforunfpa.org.