Ni Sa Moce, Laurie!

Mr. Lewis with his National Medal of Merit of Vanuatu

Mr. Laurie Lewis, the Population Statistics Adviser, retires from UN service on 31 December 1998. Retirement or separation from service…these are unwelcome words not only to the CST but also to Pacific Island programme countries at this time. Unwelcome to the CST because Laurie retires from service at a critical juncture when his expertise will be in great demand for the 2000 Round of Censuses in the Pacific island countries. He has devoted over 35 years in providing technical assistance in census activities to more than forty developing countries throughout the Asia and Pacific region, first for 10 years as a Statistician with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, then during 1981-1993 as UNFPA/ESCAP Regional Adviser in Population Censuses and Surveys, before being re-located to the Suva Office of the UNFPA Country Support Team as Adviser on Population Statistics since April 1993. In between, he had variously taught at the University of Papua New Guinea as Associate Professor in Demography, served as a consultant to the World Fertility Survey, and worked for the World Bank in Bangladesh.

During the 18 years he served in the Asia and the Pacific region, in the United Nations system, Laurie’s special contribution has been in the planning, analysis and utilization of population censuses and surveys. His experience and expertise in census activities are widely acknowledged by national statistical offices. His knowledge of data collection and census systems in the Pacific island nations is unequalled.

In September 1998, Laurie was awarded the National Medal of Merit of Vanuatu by the President for his contributions to the nation over the past thirty years, in supporting capacity building in population statistics.

Laurie’s professional life is not likely to stop with his retirement from UN service. The Director and Staff of the UNFPA Country Support Team wish him even further glorious achievements and satisfaction in his future endeavours.

Farewell, Laurie!

Ms. Susan Aradeon joined the CST in October 1998 as Advisor on Population Advocacy and Information, Education and Communication (PAIEC).

Although Ms. Aradeon is an American, she has lived and worked most of her adult life in Nigeria. She first worked in Nigeria as a Peace Corps Volunteer in a teacher training college for girls. Later she returned with her Nigerian husband to teach at the University of Lagos. In the late 1980’s, she changed to a career in international consulting and programme management in the reproductive health area, working on a number of USAID-funded projects and with the Management Sciences for Health and Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria.

She returned to New York in late 1995 and undertook advocacy and IEC proposal and project evaluation consultancies for UNFPA and the International Planned Parenthood Federation. In 1997 she worked in Papua New Guinea with the Curriculum Development Division (CDD) of the Department of Education on the start-up of the Population Education Project, for six months, under the auspices of UNFPA and then for an additional two months with the support of the PNG Government’s World Bank funding for education.