Deputy Executive Secretary for Sustainable Development, ESCAP

Kaveh Zahedi is the Deputy Executive Secretary for Sustainable Development of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). He oversees ESCAP’s work on social development, environment, energy, disaster risk management and information communications and technology.
Prior to ESCAP, Mr. Zahedi was Regional Director and Representative for Asia and the Pacific of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). He managed UNEP’s technical and policy support programmes and represented the organization in the region.
Mr. Zahedi has previously served as Deputy Director of UNEP's Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (UNEP-DTIE), overseeing work on green economy, resource efficiency and climate change. At UNEP-DTIE he also set up and headed the Climate and Clean Air Coalition for reducing short lived climate pollutants.
Over two decades Mr. Zahedi worked in UNEP’s offices in Kenya, Mexico, UK, France and Thailand. Before UNEP, Mr. Zahedi worked at an NGO as project manager for micro credit and development projects.
An Iranian and British national, he holds a Master’s degree from the Fletcher School, Tufts University, USA, and a BSc first class degree in Economics & Geography, from University College London.
Twitter: @donkaveh1
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/Kaveh-Zahedi-ESCAP-DES
Website: http://www.unescap.org/

Executive Secretary/ESCWA

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has announced the appointment of Mohamed Ali Alhakim, a national of Iraq, as Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

Mr. Alhakim brings to the position 37 years of government and diplomatic experience, and a deep knowledge of the issues confronting the Arab region.

As Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, he worked directly with numerous United Nations bodies, notably in the development and follow-up of the Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals.

Mr. Alhakim has held several senior government positions in Iraq, including those of Minister of Telecommunications, Acting Minister of Finance and Deputy Secretary-General of the Iraqi Governing Council. He has worked at the international level to raise funds for rebuilding efforts in Iraq, notably in Mosul and Najaf. He brings a wealth of experience from his activities in the private sector as a technology consultant and entrepreneur. He has also lectured and conducted research at universities in Iraq, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Mr. Alhakim holds a Doctorate in Management of Engineering from the University of Southern California, United States of America; a Master of Science and Technology from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom; and a Bachelor of Arts in Education and Statistics from Al-Mustansiriya University, Iraq.

Executive Secretary of ECLAC and coordinator of the Regional Commissions

On 13 May 2008, the United Nations Secretary-General announced the appointment of Alicia Bárcena Ibarra of Mexico as Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Ms. Bárcena Ibarra, who assumed her new position on 1 July 2008, replaced Mr. José Luis Machinea of Argentina.

Ms. Bárcena Ibarra served as the Chef de Cabinet to the former Secretary-General before serving as the Under-Secretary-General for Management.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Bárcena Ibarra served as Deputy Executive Secretary of ECLAC, and in this capacity she contributed substantively and increased interagency collaboration to provide a regional perspective on the Millennium Development Goals and on Financing for Sustainable Development, connecting issues of inequality, poverty, economic development and sustainability with the required fiscal policies needed to address extreme poverty.

As Chief of the Environment and Human Settlements Division of ECLAC, she heightened the profile of the Regional Commission in the areas of climate change, sustainable energy, fiscal policies and environment. She previously served as Coordinator of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), as well as Adviser to the Latin American and Caribbean Sustainable Development Programme in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

She was part of the Secretariat that was in charge of preparing the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. She was Principal Officer in charge of various topics related to Agenda 21 and was also the Founding Director of the Earth Council in Costa Rica.

Previously, she served in the Government of Mexico as the first Vice-Minister of Ecology and as Director-General of the National Institute of Fisheries.

In the academic arena, Ms. Bárcena Ibarra was the Director of the South-East Regional Centre of the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones sobre Recursos Bióticos in the State of Yucatán, working closely with the Mayan communities. She has taught and researched on natural sciences, mostly on botany, ethnobotany and ecology. She has published a number of articles on sustainable development, namely on financing, public policies, environment and public participation.

Ms. Bárcena Ibarra holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University.

Ms. Bárcena Ibarra was born in 1952.

Programme Officer, Cordillera Women Education and Action Research Center (Asia-Pacific Civil Society Mechanism)

Ms. Sinumlag is a Kalinga-Igorot activist from the Cordillera, Philippines. She has been working for indigenous peoples rights and women's rights for 12 years. She is serving as the Research and Publications coordinator of the Cordillera Women's Education Action Research Center (CWEARC) since 2012. She is also part of the Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) that exposed the rights violations of Chevron against the indigenous peoples rights to free prior and informed consent (FPIC) and the indigenous peoples rights to self determination in the company's plan to set up a geothermal power plant in the ancestral territory of the Kalinga people. She has also been engaging in several UN mechanisms to expose and draw support for the women human rights defenders (WHRDs) and indigenous peoples human rights defenders (IPHRDs) under attack because of their work towards a just just and sustainable future.

Executive Secretary of UNECE, Presentation of regional dimensions

On 13 April 2017, the Secretary-General appointed Ms. Olga Algayerova of Slovakia as the next Executive Secretary of the UNECE. She took office on 1 June 2017.

Ms. Algayerova brings to the position a combination of leadership and diplomatic skills with deep knowledge of the region with its challenges and opportunities and a strong focus on building and nurturing partnerships among key stakeholders with the United Nations.

Prior to her appointment, she served as Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the International Organizations in Vienna, Austria (since 2012). She was previously President, Slovak Millennium Development Goals (2010-2012); State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2006-2010) and Corporate Export Manager, Zentiva International, a.s. (2004-2006).

Born in 1959, Ms. Algayerova holds a Master in Contemporary Diplomacy from Malta University, a Master in Business Administration from The Open University Business School, United Kingdom and a Dipl. in Engineer of Economy from the University of Economics Business Faculty, Bratislava.

On 12 July 2017, Ms. Olga Algayerova was sworn-in by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. António Guterres.

Member of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission

Ms. Tatiana Valovaya was born on April, 11, 1958 in Moscow. In 1980 she graduated from Moscow Financial Institute, faculty of the international economic relations. From 1989 to 1994 – member of the Permanent Mission of the USSR and the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the European Union (Brussels), responsible for economic and monetary affairs. Later Ms. Valovaya held different positions in the Ministries of the Russian Federation and Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. From 2001 to 2012 – Director of the International Cooperation Department of the Government of the Russian Federation.

Ph.D. in Economics, professor of the Financial University (Moscow). Author of numerous publications on international economic relations, regional economic and monetary integration and history of Europe and Eurasia. Fluent in English and French.

Executive Secretary of ECA

Vera Songwe is the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Upon her appointment, she became the first woman to lead the institution in its 60-year history.

As Executive Secretary, Songwe’s reforms have focused on “ideas for a prosperous Africa”, and have brought to the fore critical issues of macroeconomic stability, development finance, private sector growth, poverty and inequality, the digital transformation, trade and competitiveness.

She was listed as one of Africa’s 50 most powerful women by Forbes in 2020 and named as one of the ‘100 Most Influential Africans’ by Jeune Afrique in 2019. In 2017, New African Magazine listed her as one of the ‘100 Most Influential Africans’ and the FT named her one of the ’25 African to watch’ in 2015.

Prior to ECA, she held a number of senior leadership roles with the International Finance Corporation and World Bank.