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IDRC photo: M. Valberg/Valberg Imaging

Gilles Forget, Regional director of IDRC’s West and Central Africa office in Dakar, Senegal, is retiring after 25 years with the Centre.

Forget’s career at IDRC was largely spent working in health, science, and the environment.

He first joined IDRC in 1983 as senior program officer in the Health Sciences Division. Three years later, with the establishment of the Health and the Environment section, Forget became associate director, and then director.

In 1997, Forget became team leader for the newly established Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health program. He is particularly proud of two achievements.

“First, building the occupational and environment health program was very gratifying because IDRC was the only organization doing this,” he says.

“Second, the Aquatox project I started with my colleague Andrés Sanchez put into the hands of people, even those with little or no education, very simple tests that allow them to determine if water is contaminated by pesticides, chemicals, and so on. By training kids in primary schools in 26 countries, including Canada, to use small testing kits, we showed that anyone can do this.”

Forget assumed his post as regional director in April 2001. His impact in the region as IDRC regional director was recognized in April 2008 by the Government of Senegal, when it bestowed on him the title of Officer of the National Order of Merit of Senegal.

Of his 25 years with IDRC, both in Canada and West Africa, Forget says,“it was so exciting to meet so many people in so many places and help them do so many things. There is great freedom of thought at IDRC, and everyone is very open to new ideas. I got so much from the job, from my colleagues at the Centre, especially the wonderful Dakar team, as well as the researchers and communities we supported.”

Listen to Forget describe two of his favourite IDRC projects (in French).

2008-07

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