sa国际传媒

He is renowned as an original thinker. But Kevin Watkins does so聽much more than聽ponder the world鈥檚 problems聽鈥� he鈥檚 a man who knows how to get聽things done on a local and global level.

After many years with the charity Oxfam and then the United Nations, he headed the聽think tank Overseas Development Institute before becoming Executive Director of聽聽last year.

鈥淗e鈥檚 an聽original thinker and a real humanitarian, combining a great mixture of intellectual power and the聽practical will to get things done,鈥� says sa国际传媒 President Sarah Brown as she introduces a special interview聽episode of the Better Angels podcast.

It was Kevin who first came up with the idea for double-shift schools in聽Lebanon, to help the country聽deal with educating huge numbers of Syrian refugee children. Using the same classrooms, Lebanese and Syrian聽children can聽go to lessons at different times of the day.

鈥淭he results have been pretty extraordinary,鈥� he says. 鈥淎ctually, something like 75% of Lebanese refugee children, school-aged children, are now in school. That figure was in the low 20% four years ago.

鈥淚 think that鈥檚 a small example of what is possible. The tragedy is that it鈥檚 a really isolated example.

In this in-depth discussion,聽Kevin talks about the lack of financial聽help for host countries聽after the Syrian refugee crisis began six years ago.

鈥淭he typical international response is to wait,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he World Bank did nothing in Lebanon for three years, as almost one million children made this journey from Syria into Lebanon as refugees.

鈥淲e have no action at all for three years.聽Which means, in a best case scenario, these kids have lost three years of schooling.

鈥淵ou then scramble together some short-term funding for one term, half a year, a year聽and pretend that it鈥檚 a systemic response, which it鈥檚 not.

鈥淚n effect what you鈥檙e doing聽is you鈥檙e writing off the future of a whole generation of refugee kids. You鈥檙e leaving a country like Lebanon 鈥� you鈥檙e turning your back on them聽and saying聽鈥榊ou go deal with it鈥�.鈥�

Kevin says structured funding is the key to overcoming obstacles such as early marriage and child labour聽to get every child in the world into school.

He reveals that, whenever he goes into parts of the world riven by conflict or afflicted by poverty, the people there understand the value of education.

鈥淭he thing is they鈥檙e absolutely right,鈥� he聽adds. 鈥淲e know that education is the single most powerful catalyst of change. It鈥檚 what lifts people out of poverty. It鈥檚 what improves health. It鈥檚 what creates jobs. It鈥檚 what drives growth.鈥�

He also talks聽about Save the Children鈥檚 three big priorities 鈥撀爃ealth, nutrition and protection of children in armed conflict.

鈥淔or me, what international development is about聽is three very fundamental things,鈥� says Kevin.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about human solidarity聽and about recognising that, in a globalised world, we all have responsibilities for each other, that we鈥檙e all connected.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about empathy, and this ability to put yourself in somebody else鈥檚 shoes, and say 鈥楾hat could be me鈥�. Or 鈥楾hat could be my kid who鈥檚 getting bombed in Aleppo鈥�.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about caring enough to make a difference.聽I think聽I do have a very strong sense of personal responsibility to try to make a difference.鈥�

Don鈥檛 miss an episode 鈥� subscribe now

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To subscribe via iTunes from this page, hit the iTunes icon above.

If you are on a desktop, you鈥檒l need to select 鈥榁iew in iTunes鈥� and once the iTunes programme is open, you鈥檒l be able to switch on a subscription.

Alternatively, if you have a podcast player that subscribes via RSS, you can click the RSS icon on any episode or use this link to get a full feed of all the episodes.