UNDP Resident Representative to Montenegro, Daniela Gasparikova in an interview for ‘Vijesti’ daily:

The power lies in the individual and their knowledge

Interview conducted by: Damira Kalač, Vijesti.me 

Read the original article (in Montenegrin language)

Daniela Gasparikova has been in Montenegro for only eight months and already feels at home. She was born in Slovakia, where she started her career in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 16 years ago. In April last year, she was appointed as UNDP Resident Representative to Montenegro.

“I came to Montenegro 8 months ago and it felt like coming back home. The fact that I could communicate with people in a mix of Slavic languages makes a huge difference” – she said in an interview for Vijesti. Sincerity that she feels in every day interactions, already evoked a sense of belonging. In Podgorica, Gasparikova enjoys walking on Gorica hill. She already loves Durmitor and the north, and as a mountaineer she hopes to soon get a chance to trek through other parts of Montenegro. She believes in climate change, the power of an individual and lifelong learning.

Woman can equally be a parent and a professional

Gasparikova strongly supports the idea of greater participation of women in politics and science. Position of women in the society – their political, economic and other rights, she says – concerns us all.

“Each actor – be it government, police, prosecution, NGOs, media, private sector, citizens, families or political platforms – have a unique, and complementary role to play in protecting these rights. Introduction of female candidate 30% quota for political parties’ lists already resulted in doubling of the female MPs. I’m hopeful that there will be consensus on increasing the quota to 40% through the electoral framework reform,” she said in an interview with Vijesti.

She is pleased to see there are many young women in science in Montenegro and that fills her with optimism for the bright future of the country.

“Girls and women can and do excel in science, technology, math or engineering and should be encouraged to explore these professions from the very young age,” she says.

She believes that better child care burden sharing between parents, accessible institutional child care and family-friendly employer policies do translate into long-lasting professional careers for both men and women.

“In the 21^st century, young women shouldn’t be faced with the dilemma of choosing between the family or professional career,” said Gasparikova. 

From Ulaanbaatar to Podgorica

Before coming to Montenegro, she served as a Deputy Resident Representative in Mongolia. She lived in Ulaanbaatar, which is in winter time one of the most air-polluted cities on the planet, due to heating on raw coal. Now in Podgorica, while walking through Gorica, she enjoys the smell of pine trees.

“In Ulaanbaatar, we didn’t just breathe the polluted air, we tasted it. Even now, when I take clothes from the boxes I packed there, I have carried the coal smell with me”.  

For Pogorica, that used to be one of the greenest cities in former Yugoslavia, she says it looks pretty green. “Especially its centre. I understand that greening of the city may not have kept its pace with the past,” she says and, as one of the ways of greening, she suggests incorporating minimum green space standards to the city’s urban plans and respecting them in practice.

Like in Ulaanbaatar, air is polluted in some Montenegrin towns too, such as Pljevlja, due to burning harmful fuels for heating. Additionally, in urban areas, the cause of pollution is traffic. Gasparikova thinks that broader discussion about systemic ways to reduce pollution is required, but she’s encouraged by an ongoing work of UNDP and partners on introducing electrical vehicles in transportation.

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According to the UNDP 2019 Human Development Report, Montenegro belongs to the ‘very high human development category’. But it also emphasises that we need to look more granularly whether quality of life improves at the same speed and depth for all groups of population. This publication reveals that new types of inequalities are already emerging - driven by climate change and technology, and Gasparikova says that this will need to be factored in the country’s development strategies.

Climate change is real

UNDP Resident Representative to Montenegro has no dilemma that climate change is real and notes that it shouldn’t be ignored in investment planning. And winter tourism and skiing slopes directly depend on weather conditions. As a result of the warmer winters, 186 of 350 objects and ski resorts have been abandoned in the Italian Alps, as reported by L'Espresso.

“Guardian has also recently included Kolasin in the 10 best skiing resorts in Europe – and I was thrilled by this. Mountains and skiing are my passion, I have skied since I was 4 or 5. My father used to be a manager of the skiing resort and that’s where me and my sister spent winters. At least three months a year would be entirely organized around skiing and increasingly sophisticated weather forecasts. Having this experience, I’m very much aware how dependent the winter tourism is on the ‘favourable weather conditions’ and a bad season is any skiing resort’s operator nightmare,” she says. She reminds that between 2001-2010, the temperature in the north of Montenegro has already increased by 1.4 degrees, saying that ‘climate change risks cannot be ignored’ and that they will become an inevitable factor in investors’ assessments.

In climate change conversations, an inevitable topic in the last several months is an activist and a student Greta Thunberg. There is no difference in what the Swedish teenager and UNDP are saying, says Gasparikova – and that is – listen to what the science is telling us.   

“If governments do not keep their promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to keep the global warming below 1.5 C, then we will have to admit we failed Greta and the young generations. To illustrate: The last four years have been the hottest ever recorded in the world, and Podgorica suffered one of the warmest Octobers in the last 70 years,” says Gasparikova.

She adds that the nature of the climate change is such, that it may not be felt by all people at the same time and same way, which doesn’t mean it’s not taking its toll. “We are witnessing ‘climate refugees’ –people of the Small Island States, such as Kiribati - getting displaced because of the rising sea levels. Montenegro, like many countries who have contributed least are bound to face consequences of global warming, such as increased floods and droughts, warming of the sea waters and damage to ecosystems.” Even though she wouldn’t be overly excited if her daughter, like Greta, decided to tour the world to fix the consequences of irresponsible behaviour of adults, Gasparikova wouldn’t hesitate to support her. Because, as she says, she would like her daughter to be true to herself and others, and not to give up if others don’t see what she sees. She also believes that sometimes, with the right timing and place, it takes only one to change the world. “It remains to be seen whether Greta and the movement of the peers she inspired is going to be the one. I would certainly want to hope so."

Investing in knowledge brings economic growth

Gasparikova would like her daughter to learn as much as she can, since “knowledge is one of very few things nobody can take away from us”. That’s why she considers investment in research and development as important. According to her, one of the main reasons why countries invest into R&D is driven by their expectation that accumulated knowledge, once applied, will be turned into innovation which can be commercialised driving their economic growth, productivity and job creation. “Investment in research and development can help countries to find new or unconventional solutions that address the challenges they face” says Gasparikova. South Korea invests slightly more than 4% of its GDP going to R&D, EU targets to spend 3% of its GDP by 2020. Montenegro starts from a low baseline, says Gasparikova, but is pleased by government plans to double its public funds allocation in this field until 2021. “The smart specialisation strategy was adopted, and first Science and technology park established. At UNDP we are very excited about being a partner of choice to support the country’s innovation and smart specialization council,” says Gasparikova. She adds that substantive investment in R&D need to be matched by companies’ investments as part of their competitiveness.

The majority has internet but is not using it properly

Gasparikova uses social media for professional purposes, and she embraced digital technologies with the knowledge that if kept in check, they can be an excellent servant. Digital technologies profoundly changed our everyday lives. “In the past I visited a library nearly on weekly basis, but now I have it all under my fingertips. I also use electronic banking for private and professional purposes”, she says. She also points out to the new generation of inequalities emerging, driven by uneven ability of users to derive or create the added value from tech. “For example, in Montenegro 77 % of people have internet at home, but less than 10% use it productively, such as for e-banking, conducting business or learning – meaning beyond browsing social media platforms and sharing content for amusement.”

Learning in adulthood teaches us humbleness

While growing up in a small town in the then Czechoslovakia, Gasparikova had a dream to learn to play piano. Her dream came true only in 2016, when she moved to Mongolia. “When we moved to Mongolia, there was a piano school on the ground floor of the building we lived. So, one day it occurred to me that if I don’t take piano lessons now, it is never going to happen. Similarly, learning Montenegrin was an opportunity I found hard to pass on, since I understood a lot but couldn’t utter a word,” she says. She adds that acquiring a completely new skill in adulthood allowed her to gain new perspectives and remain connected with reality. “If I thought my working day was hard and full of problems, an evening piano lesson somehow always succeeded to be much harder. Learning at my age also teaches humbleness – not to know, admit so, and let somebody else guide you is an opposite of what is often expected of managers,” she says. 

Running and mountaineering for body and soul

Running helped her accept that sometimes it takes years to see the results of development work in the country. Gasparikova has always been doing some sport, but she avoided running, as it would leave her short of breath. But with frequent traveling, schedule became more demanding and it became evident that running was the only sport she could combine with other duties. There was no other choice but to overcome previous barriers to that sport. Now she does even long-distance running. “To excel at any sport requires combination of physical and mental strength. The more one advances, the more the mental one prevails. After 8 years, I don’t run to become fit anymore. I run to maintain focus, gain different perspective on any challenge I’m dealing with and maintain stamina and perseverance.” Similarly to running, she recalls, mountaineering taught her that getting the clear view from the top is only half of the battle won. “The other half is getting safely back down, and that is what makes it count. These are all traits that allow me to come to terms with the nature of my job, where one has to accept that often it takes years before we see the results of our development work in the country,” says Gasparikova.

Consumers can produce energy

In 2018, 77% of Montenegro’s energy consumption was from renewable energy sources (RES), which is significantly above the EU target of 32% by 2030. The EU New Green Deal, announced in December, reminds Gasparikova, aims for carbon neutrality by 2050. According to this plan, for each ton of CO2 emitted, countries will need to remove an equivalent amount of CO2 from the atmosphere. In this regard, Gasparikova is convinced that Montenegro’s investments into renewables may serve as a springboard for achieving its carbon neutrality. She considers important that the new EU plan aims to eliminate the so-called “energy poverty” and reduce the cost of electricity bills. That can be achieved, she explains, if consumers are offered to produce their own energy from the renewable energy sources and get connected to the grid. UNDP, Gasparikova says, has already conducted a feasibility study that gives guidelines on how to take this concept forward in Montenegro. Commenting on the environmental governance in Montenegro so far, she said that the trust of citizens in the processes is a precondition for the successful adoption of any solution.

UNDP in 2019

Guided by the Sustainable Development Goals, UNDP in partnership with 190 governments, Montenegro included, works on solutions to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all human beings enjoy peace and prosperity. Over the last year, UNDP in Montenegro supported 11 day-care centres for the elderly, many of which are in the north and are critical when family members are unable to provide this support. Home assistance complements the work of these centres, providing care for 1,200 elderly. We also helped establish national Domestic Violence Data Base and facilitated creation of national data exchange platform. “In tourism, we backed 32 innovative ‘green’ projects that reduce green-house gas emissions, which catalysed more than 13 million USD investment of private and public sector into their implementation over the last few years. We also enabled eco-certification of 28 hotels and greening of 11 music and film festivals,” Gasparikova reminded about just some of the results of UNDP work in the country.