Ms. Sigrid Kaag

Secretary-General Appoints Ms. Sigrid Kaag of the Netherlands as Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Ms. Sigrid Kaag of the Netherlands as Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, following Security Council Resolution 2720 (2023), on December 26, 2023, in New York. In this role, she facilitates, coordinates, monitors, and verifies humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza, and is establishing a UN mechanism to accelerate these efforts through states not party to the conflict. She will be supported by the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Ms. Kaag brings a wealth of experience in political, humanitarian and development affairs, as well as in diplomacy. From January 2022, she served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and first female Minister of Finance in the Dutch government. Previously, she was the Dutch Minister for Trade and Development Cooperation from October 2017 until May 2021 and Minister for Foreign Affairs until September 2021. Sigrid Kaag was elected party leader of the social liberal party D66 in September 2020 and stepped down from that position in August 2023 after leading her party to victory in the March 2021 elections. Ms. Kaag has held a wide range of senior positions in the UN system. From 2015 to 2017, she was the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, and from 2013 to 2015, she was Special Coordinator of the Joint Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the UN Mission in Syria. She served as Assistant Secretary-General with the UN Development Programme from 2010 to 2013 and as Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Jordan from 2007 to 2010. Prior to that, Ms. Kaag served in several senior positions with UNICEF, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Ms. Kaag holds a Master of Arts in Middle East Studies from the University of Exeter, a Master of Philosophy in International Relations from Oxford University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Middle East Studies from the American University in Cairo. She speaks Dutch, German, French, English, Spanish and Arabic.