Sigrid Kaag

Sigrid Kaag earned a Master of Philosophy in International Relations on the Middle East from the University of Exeter; she also has a Master in International Relations from St. Antony's College, University of Oxford. After her studies Ms. Kaag worked for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Royal Dutch Shell in London, United Kingdom. She started working for the United Nations in 1994 and from 1998 to 2004 she was Chief of Donor Relations for the International Organization for Migration, and Senior Programme Manager with the External Relations Office of UNRWA. Working in the Middle East she was responsible for areas as the occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. From 2007 to May 2010 she was Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa for UNICEF. In May 2010 she was appointed Assistant Secretary-General and Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy of the United Nations Development Programme. Between October 2013 and September 2014, she was head of the joint Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations mission for the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons. On 1 December 2014, the UN Secretary General announced that she will be the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL).