Biography speakers Plenary Session I

Transcription

1 Biography speakers Plenary Session I Mrs. Pauline Krikke is the Mayor of the City of The Hague. She was formerly a city councillor in Amsterdam, the Director of the Maritime Museum, and the Mayor of Arnhem; recently, she was a Member of the First Chamber of the States-General and an independent consultant and supervisor for government and business. 1 of 2

2 2 of 2 H.E. Mr. Ronald Plasterk was appointed as Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands in Previously, he served as the Minister of Education, Culture, and Science in the Fourth Balkenende Government and additionally worked as the head of a research group at the Netherlands Center Institute/Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital in Amsterdam. He has held multiple professorships, including the endowed chair of the department of molecular biology at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.

3 3 of 2 Mr. Thoms Gass is Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter- Agency Affairs in UN DESA. From 2009 to 2013, he served as Head of the Mission of Switzerland to Nepal (Ambassador and Country Director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation), where he established the Embassy of Switzerland in Nepal, and ensured the delivery of a development cooperation programme of up to 33 million dollars a year. He also chaired the Donors of the Nepal Peace Trust Fund, the main instrument for international support to Nepal s peace process. Before his posting to Nepal from 2004 to 2009, Mr. Gass was Head of the Economic and Development Section at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in New York. In 2006, he was the Vice-President for Western European and Other Group (WEOG) of the Commission on Population and Development, and in 2008 he was the Vice-President (WEOG) of the Executive Board of UNDP/UNFPA. In 2007, he successfully facilitated the landmark TCPR/QCPR Resolution, the periodic review of the General Assembly operational system for development. Mr. Gass holds a PhD in natural sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and MSc and Engineering diploma in agricultural sciences from the same Institute.

4 4 of 2 Mrs. Geraldine Joslyn Fraser-Moleketi is a Non-Executive, Independent, Board Director for the Standard Bank Group. She previously served as Special Envoy on Gender/Vice President in the African Development Bank Group. She had occupied the position of Global Director of the Democratic Governance Practice of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). During this time she also served on the Board of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Board appointed by the UNSG. Prior to joining UNDP, Fraser-Moleketi served successive terms as Minister of Public Service and Administration ( ) and Minister for Welfare and Population Development ( ) in consecutive governments of President Nelson Mandela and President Thabo Mbeki. She was a Member of the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa since the first democratic elections in April 1994 until her resignation in September 2008.

5 5 of 2 LI Yong, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), has had an extensive career as a senior economic and financial policy-maker. As Vice-Minister of Finance of the People s Republic of China and member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank for a decade, Mr. Li was involved in setting and harmonizing fiscal, monetary and industrial policies, and in supporting sound economic growth in China. He pushed forward financial sector reform, and prompted major financial institutions to establish corporate governance, deal with toxic assets and strengthen risk management. Mr. Li gave great importance to fiscal and financial measures in favor of agricultural development and SMEs, the cornerstones for creating economic opportunities, reducing poverty and promoting gender equality. He played a key role in China s cooperation with multilateral development organizations, such as the World Bank Group and the Asian Development Bank.