United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today [30 October 2023] the appointment of Kirsi Madi of Finland as [UN Assistant Secretary-General] and Deputy Executive Director for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships at the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).
UN Secretary-General appoints Kirsi Madi of Finland as UN Women Deputy Executive Director for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships
The Secretary-General wishes to extend his appreciation to UN Women Director, Division of Management and Administration, Moez Doraid of Egypt, who will continue to serve as UN Women Deputy Executive Director ad interim, until Ms. Madi assumes her functions.
Currently serving as Director of the Executive Director’s Office and Chief of Staff in United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Ms. Madi brings over 30 years of experience working in the United Nations system in humanitarian affairs and development cooperation, in inter-agency coordination, inter-governmental relations, governance, partnerships, and external relations.
Prior to this role, she held different leadership positions in the UN: Director of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR); UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia; Chief of National Committee Relations in the UNICEF Private Fundraising and Partnerships Division; Secretary of the UNICEF Executive Board; and Chief of the Inter- Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Secretariat in the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Ms. Madi’s career in the United Nations started in 1991 when she joined UNICEF Office of Emergency Programmes. Before joining the United Nations Common System, she worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, in the Department for Development Cooperation as Programme Officer.
Ms. Madi holds a Master of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of Helsinki. She is fluent in English, French, and Finnish.