Who's who in #globaldev: April 2021 executive appointments

USAID Samantha Power, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is the new administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination last week. USAID has been operating without a permanent head since Mark Green’s departure in March 2020. During a confirmation hearing in March, Power emphasized “burden-sharing in the international system,” and said development should be “driven by those on the ground with local knowledge and expertise.” Meanwhile, Gayle Smith, who served as USAID administrator from December 2015 to January 2017, has been appointed as U.S. coordinator for the global COVID-19 response and health security. Prior, she was president and CEO of the ONE Campaign, which is now led by Tom Hart as acting CEO. World Health Organization The World Health Organization has announced the members of the WHO Science Council in mid-2020. The council will advise the WHO director-general on high-priority scientific issues and is chaired by Nobel Prize-winning scientist Harold Varmus. It is composed of eight other members, including: • Salim Abdool Karim, director at the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa. • Edith Heard, director general at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Germany. • Adeeba Kamarulzaman, president at the International AIDS Society in Malaysia. • Mary-Claire King, professor of Genome Sciences and Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. • Abla Mehio Sibai, professor of epidemiology and interim dean at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. • Denis Mukwege, Nobel peace laureate and founder of the Panzi Foundation. • Jean William Pape, director and founder of GHESKIO in Haiti. • Yongyuth Yuthavong, senior specialist at the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology under the National Science and Technology Development Agency in Thailand. Bezos Earth Fund Another climate leader is joining the Bezos Earth Fund. Charlotte Pera, who served as president and CEO at the ClimateWorks Foundation for almost nine years, will serve as vice president for strategy and programs at the fund. She will be working with Andrew Steer, who was named as the fund’s first president and CEO last March 2021. The Global Fund Peter Sands will continue as executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. His second, four-year term starts in March 2022. ActionAid UK Frances Longley will serve as ActionAid UK’s new chief executive starting mid-May. She joins the organization after serving as executive director for programs and policy at CARE International UK. United Nations The U.N. General Assembly has confirmed Achim Steiner for a second, four-year term as administrator of the U.N. Development Programme. His second term begins in June. Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed the following officials to key senior positions: • Joanna Wronecka of Poland as special coordinator for Lebanon. • Lieutenant General Marcos De Sá Affonso Da Costa of Brazil as force commander for the U.N. Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. • Leonid Frolov of the Russian Federation as executive director of the Office of the U.N. Register of Damage caused by the construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. • Courtenay Rattray of Jamaica as high representative for the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states. • Alain Noudéhou of Benin as deputy special representative in the U.N. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, resident coordinator, and humanitarian coordinator in Mali. IDinsight IDinsight has two new board members: Ṣẹ̀yẹ Abímbọ́lá, editor-in-chief of BMJ Global Health, and Rukmini Banerji, CEO at Pratham Education Foundation. They succeed former board directors Arun Gupta and Oliver Sabot. Women Political Leaders Women Political Leaders, a global network of women politicians that aims to increase the number and influence of women in political leadership positions, has appointed four women leaders as special envoys. They include: • Isabel de Saint Malo, former vice president and minister of foreign affairs of Panama, as special envoy for Latin America. • Wafa Bani Mustafa, former member of parliament in Jordan, as special envoy for the Arabian region. • Hafsat Abiola, president of Women in Africa, as special envoy to Africa. • Christine Heenan, senior partner and chief communications officer at venture capital firm Flagship Pioneering, special envoy for North America. Katja Iversen, former president and CEO at Women Deliver, will also serve as the network’s executive advisor. Creative Associates International Creative Associates International has appointed its first chief business development officer. Benjamin Feit, formerly associate vice president for Institutional Funding and Strategy at CARE USA, will serve in the new role to lead on business development and funding diversification strategies, according to a news release.