Greg Barrow is Head of the United Nations World Food Programme London Office from where he acts as a senior spokesman, runs campaigns, and manages a team that builds relations with the private sector, media, parliament and non-governmental organisations. Greg has worked for the World Food Programme for more than 12 years, dividing his time between the UK and the agency’s headquarters in Rome, where he was Deputy Director of Communications. Before joining WFP, he worked as a foreign correspondent for the BBC and was based in sub-Saharan Africa for six years (Nairobi and Johannesburg) before re-locating to New York where he worked as the BBC’s United Nations Correspondent.
1) What is your current position?
I am the Head of the United Nations World Food programme Office in London, where I manage a team that is focused on advocacy and communications in support of hungry people and building partnerships with the private sector and foundations to help us reach our target of Zero Hunger by 2030.
2) What are your proudest achievements?
There are millions of people around the world whose voices are rarely heard and most of them live in some of the poorest and most remote places on earth. The World Food Programme assists 80 – 100 million of these people every year by improving access to the food they need. We make sure their voices are heard at the top table and that feels like quite an achievement.
3) What inspires you?
Dignity, justice, respect for human rights and equality of opportunity for everyone – whether they are born in Birmingham or Burkina Faso. We all deserve the chance of a good start in life and access to nutritious food in the early years is a fundamental part of that.
4) What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?
I think I have been pretty lucky in my career so far – first at the BBC and subsequently at the World Food Programme. Perhaps the most challenging thing has been getting the work/life balance right and ensuring that I have been there when my family has needed me. Still trying to crack that.
5) Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?
More than anything, it is ordinary children I have met in the midst of desperate humanitarian crises, who have inspired me to keep going. Seeing how they have the will and the desire to grow up, get an education and lead a normal life, whether they are trapped in conflict, or swept up in a natural disaster, is an example to us all.
6) What is the best aspect about your current role?
Most of the people I meet seem to be grateful that there is an organisation out there doing the work that the World Food Programme does. There are times when we face criticism, but generally speaking people support what we do on the frontline of hunger and that makes it a good organisation to work for.
7) And the worst?
There seems to be a small but noisy constituency in the UK that thinks that foreign aid and assistance is a waste of money. It is fairly easy to present a convincing counter-argument to this narrative by highlighting the positive impact on real lives that foreign aid has and the goodwill it generates in terms of extending the “soft power” of the governments and people who give so much, but it is worrying that these views are held so strongly.
8) What are your long term goals?
At the World Food Programme I am part of a global movement to get behind the push towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 2, the Zero Hunger Goal by 2030. I would like to be able to say “job done” by the time we get to that target date.
9) If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change?
Here in the UK, successive governments have had a pretty good record in supporting foreign aid, maintaining a commitment to providing 0.7% of GDP for overseas development assistance and keeping humanitarian issues at the top of the global agenda. If I was PM, I would just make sure that I keep reiterating this position and ensuring that voters understand the real value of maintaining the UK’s position as a key player in the humanitarian / development world.
10) If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why?
Most of the important historical figures I can think of would probably drive me slightly crazy if I was stuck on a desert island with them so I think it would probably prefer to spend the time with my family.
