Dr. Sharad Sapra, is a man who has dedicated himself to the betterment of the lives of children and their families around the world. He has created and implemented not only life changing ideas and programs in UNICEF, but has brought concepts to life that have, and will continue to, change our world. The enormous legacy he has already created will always be recognized, but those accomplishments are merely evidence of Sharad’s most important contribution to humanity. It is his exceptional ability to think creatively, to try fearlessly, to innovate and inspire innovation in others – that is Sharad’s greatest gift.

Sharad with his brother

Sharad’s story began in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India on June 29, 1956. His family had relocated from Pakistan after the India Pakistan partition in 1947 and was well-educated; Sharad’s father was a prominent business man and union leader in Gwalior. His mother, the late Mrs. Satya Sapra, was Principal of Girls’ Post Graduate College. Unsurprisingly, education was a top priority in Sharad’s upbringing; this family focus led him to earn an MBBS, along with an MD in public health, at Jiwadi University. It was during his time at University that he would meet and fall in love with the woman he would ultimately share his life’s journey with, Uma Singh. They were married on March 26, 1982 and have two children together, Abhhishek and Sonam.

1983 proved to be a pivotal year for Sharad ; not only did he complete his studies but he also took his first steps towards his illustrious career by joining UNICEF. Sharad’s start with UNICEF was as unique as the man himself. As a medical doctor, Sharad was highly qualified to write a proposal on mass immunization, which he did in 1983 as a short-term consultant . Later on he his contract was extended to implement the same project which he wrote the proposal for. During a routine trip in India, plane trouble grounded legendary UNICEF Executive Director, James P. Grant. Grant was shown his project , and in a moment of foresight which would come to identify Sharad’s career, the highly impressed Grant directed that Sharad be hired full-time. In his first year with UNICEF, Sharad was tasked with leading the effort to implement his proposed immunization plan throughout India. Grant’s choice was by no means serendipitous. He clearly saw the value of having a doctor implementing health initiatives; Grant made Sharad the first doctor to be appointed as a National Officer in UNICEF India.

Since 1983, Sharad and his commitment to innovative solutions that effect global change have never flagged. His effort, and UNICEF’s recognition of it, have gone strong from the moment Grant became aware of his work, through to his last role in UNICEF as Principal Adviser for Innovation, and Director of the Global Innovation Centre based in the Nairobi Regional Office. But there were many stops along the way:

• Assistant Project Officer, Health, in 1985
• In 1988, Sharad was transferred to Male, Maldives to work in the Programme Section as Project Officer.
• 1989 saw Sharad become Assistant UNICEF Representative in Maldives.
• In 1990, he moved to New York to assist with the global monitoring, evaluation and programme support to field offices until his transfer to UNICEF Dhaka as Senior Programme and Planning Officer in 1991.
• In 1997 he joined UNICEF Iran as the UNICEF Representative.
• In 1999 Sharad was transferred to a very challenging assignment as Chief of Operations in the Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) programme which was a consortium of UN agencies (mainly UNICEF, UNOCHA and the World Food Programme) and approximately 35 Non-governmental organizations operating in southern Sudan to provide humanitarian assistance.

•In 2001 Sharad was asked to setup and and lead the UNICEF service center  in Johannesburg hat was setup to coordinate UNICEF’s response to HIV/AIDS crisis in South African Countries.

• In February 2002, the Executive Director requested Sharad to co-ordinate the implementation of the Afghanistan Back-to-School Programme, which resulted in over 3 million children enrolling in schools in Afghanistan.
• In 2004, he was appointed Director of Division of Communication at the UNICEF Headquarters in New York.
• Sharad served as UNICEF Representative in Uganda starting 2009.
• And since 2014 until his retirement in June 2017 he has served as Director of the Global Innovation Centre.

Sharad’s tireless fight on behalf of children has made an inestimable impact. In 2001, as head of UNICEF operations in southern Sudan, he played a crucial role in the demobilization of nearly 3,500 child soldiers who had been held by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Despite this enormous achievement, Sharad– as always – looked to the future, stating, “This is not the end. We need to focus on supporting the communities these children have gone home to, both to ease the general suffering and to make it less likely children will ever be recruited again.”

Sharad career has been defined by his ability to see ahead, conceiving and implementing innovative programs that connect, engage and inspire.  The Multiple Cluster Indicator Survey (MICS) methodology which he designed in 1992 in Bangladesh continues to be UNICEF’s flagship methodology to report on results for children in over 90 countries. From his involvement with UNICEF’s Innovation labs, to spearheading the application U-Report which revolutionized social mobilization in Uganda, to his most recent work with RapidPro – he has always understood the power of innovation. For him, “innovation is an attitude” one he says “anyone can have.” Sharad’s insistence on problem solving in revolutionary ways, understanding big picture problems as well as how to execute the necessary minutiae, and his desire to show everyone that they too can make innovative differences regardless of education or background are important components of what drives him. But the most important attribute is his adherence to the UNICEF mission to achieve 100 per cent success in whatever his endeavors may be for the children of the world. For Sharad , until every child has his or her needs attended to, success will remain elusive.

In his own words, Sharad’s comment on the mission of the already wildly successful Global Innovation Centre (GIC) is as follows:

“While we achieved results for many, we actually didn’t achieve results for all, which is the mandate of UNICEF, based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. So it was key that to achieve results for all, it was clear that business as usual is not going to help us get there.”

Luckily, for the children of the world, as long as Sharad and his influence on others persists, business will never be as usual.