JEDDAH: The chief executive of the British Council said that one of the biggest challenges of working in conflict zones, such as Syria, is to have the capacity to deal with the scale of the issue.
“The biggest challenge, to be honest, is the scale of the need,” Sir Ciaran Devane said from Amman during an interview with Arab News on Wednesday. “The other challenge is reminding ourselves that we have to be patient and that it will take all of us to help Syria rebuild itself.
He is currently leading a delegation to Lebanon and Jordan to examine and understand the impact of the UK’s wider response to the Syrian crisis, in particular the impact of educational and civil society interventions on the long-term stability of both nations.
He said the enormity of the task at hand required patience. “If you are the CEO of an organization like the British Council, you have to remind yourself and everyone else that what is needed is patience,” he said. “The day that people start firing bullets is not the day that peace has been established and it is not the day when communities can be rebuilt.”
Sir Ciaran was educated at University College, Dublin, where he gained first-class honors in biochemical engineering. He then began his career as an engineer and manager for Imperial Chemical Industries before becoming a management consultant, mostly with Gemini Consulting. He holds a master’s degree in International Policy and Practice from George Washington University in the US. He became chief executive of the British Council in January 2015.
The delegation that Sir Ciaran is leading comprises senior British civil servants from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Cabinet Office, as well as vice chancellors from various British universities.
Following are excerpts from the interview:
Q: Thank you for talking to Arab News. We heard you just arrived from Lebanon?
A: Yes, I arrived from Lebanon. I am in Amman now.
Q: Can you tell us about your observations during the current visit?
A: The purpose in coming to Jordan and Lebanon is what I regard as the No. 1 priority for the British Council: Our contribution to the next generation of young people in the Gulf, the Middle East and North Africa. That is our highest priority. Those young people are a group we want to help and support. We can work with government partners, educational partners and civil society partners. Specifically in the context of the crisis in Syria and its effects, how can we help the Lebanese education system? We must help for the sake of Lebanese students and for the sake of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and in Jordan. The education system and civil society in both countries must help them achieve what they want to achieve in spite of the difficulties engulfing them.
Q: At the British Council, how do you see the role of soft power in a hard power world?
A: I go back to our history. We got our Royal Charter in 1940 when we, in Europe, were in the midst of our own crisis. Quite literally, as the bombs were falling, there were people in London at the time saying that there was a role for an organization to work with the cultural resources of the UK. They knew they had to involve science, education, governance and language in order to foster the interchange of knowledge, ideas and discoveries. What they wanted was to promote neighborliness and the feeling was, “Yes we are at war at the moment, but there will be a day when we will have to rebuild the country.” They knew there would be a role for reconciliation and so the role of the British Council became the promotion of friendly knowledge and understanding between people. Our cultural assets, our educational assets with those of countries in and around the region were used in interacting with other people. It was done in a way which promoted knowledge and understanding between people; it was also done through education, through languages, through art events and through science. All of those were used to create understanding and a relationship that would foster cooperation in place of hostility.
Q: The conflicts in this region are unprecedented. Has the British Council worked in similar circumstances in other places?
A: We learned from our own lessons in Northern Ireland where we had our own experience. I am Irish myself and I grew up at a time when we had significant divisions between groups and communities. That was the starting point. We have been heavily involved in working with partners in Nigeria; we have programs in Colombia. We have experience in difficult situations. That helps in two ways. One is that you understand what is helpful and what is not helpful. Also, it means that you know what it is like to be on the receiving end.
Q: There is a large displacement of people from Syria and Iraq. Obviously this will feed radicalization. Do your programs help to de-radicalize in any way?
A: The analogy that I use is that of the difference between surgery and public health. It is not our job to tackle violent extremism. It is our job to provide opportunities and work with young people to help them fulfill their desires. If a young person has the opportunity to get involved in social entrepreneurship and can find a way of achieving fulfillment and also feeding themselves through that activity, then there is less pressure on them to join a militia. In my analogy, we never do the surgery. We are not interested in that. We are not qualified for that. We don’t know how to do that. We don’t want to do that. But we are public health. We can provide what will remove the need for surgery. How can we work with young people so that they can make contributions to their communities? We teach them the skills they need. If they want to set up their own businesses, we try to help them. We also work with local populations because one of the striking things is the generosity of the Lebanese and the Jordanians in the face of the huge number of refugees. We try to support the communities. Our aim is to develop skills in young people so that when peace finally comes, they can rebuild their communities.
Q: What are the challenges that you are experiencing in this particularly dangerous region?
A: It is difficult for us to get to some of the communities that we would like to go to. That is just the sheer logistical problem. The biggest one, to be honest, is the scale of the need. The biggest challenge is a practical one. The key is having the means to deal with the scale of the issue. The other one, from our point of view, is to realize that this will take time. If you are the CEO of an organization like the British Council, you have to remind yourself and everyone else that what is needed is patience. The day that people start firing bullets is not the day that peace has been established and it is not the day when communities can be rebuilt. Again, if you go back in history, take the European context; it was a long time after the end of the war in 1945 before things got back to something approaching normalcy. The other challenge is reminding ourselves that we have to be patient and that it will take all of us — from Europe as well as our friends in the Middle East and Gulf — to help Syria rebuild itself.
Q: Can you please tell us more about the strengthening of the civil society network through the Mobaderoon initiative?
A: This is a group of young people who went through a citizenship program we developed. This is not something new; it has been going on for the last 10 years across Syria. We are working in different geographical areas — some are controlled by the regime and others by rebels. Our contribution is to work with the young people, helping them to develop the skills and capabilities needed to run community projects. We try to give them the skills and confidence to work with other partners in the communities. I am an engineer and here is some data for you: 83.5 percent of those who participated in the programs say that one of the things they gained was understanding and acceptance of people from other communities. And 86.2 percent said that they felt the direct impact of their contribution as a citizen to the local society. This is about young people taking initiatives and the translation of “Mobaderoon” is “Initiative Takers.” When I met a group of them yesterday, it was very moving; I saw the generosity of the host communities to the suffering of people who have been uprooted by the conflict. It was moving in one sense but also inspiring because these young people are traveling back and forth in Syria. Many of them live in Damascus and Aleppo — and they are regularly going back to help their communities. One of the most memorable comments was from a young man from Aleppo: “I am on one side of a line and they are on the other. I want the skills so that when there is no line, I can go to them, talk to them and we can start building. It is not about taking sides or thinking one side was right and the other wrong. We are all Syrians and we are all human beings. We want to build a better Syria and get ready for the time when we can do that. I hope that is what we all want.”
Q: So the British Council’s response to the crisis is producing positive feedback?
A: We are a small part of the response. We are related to the Foreign Office but we are also an independent entity. We have our own board, for example. My observation is based on talking to other UK partners. Part of my delegation, for example, is the CEO of International Alert which is a UK NGO working on building peace. All of us would say there is more to do and we mustn’t lose our momentum.
Q: There must be a feeling of a sense of accomplishment?
A: I wouldn’t be that enthusiastic. There are, however, some fine stories that show us that things are better then they would otherwise be. I think all of us are realistic and that the human consequence of all conflicts is how much more needs to be done. Are the programs that we are implementing having a good effect? Absolutely yes. Are they sufficient? Absolutely not.
Q: Your last comments to young people in the Arab world?
A: My message to them is to continue to be optimistic. The future is there. It will be yours. The rest of us will do our best to help you use to the fullest your capabilities and skills. We will support you in your efforts to build a better world.
British Council CEO Sir Ciaran Devane: The generosity of the Lebanese and the Jordanians is striking
British Council CEO Sir Ciaran Devane: The generosity of the Lebanese and the Jordanians is striking
