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

Major leadership changes were afoot at the United Nations in July, with the biggest relating to UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, who announced she had made the “difficult decision” to leave her post after more than three years in office. Fore, who said that she needed to devote her energy to her husband’s health issues, will stay on at UNICEF until U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres appoints her successor. There are a number of questions around who will fill her post, with observers now considering the challenges that the next UNICEF chief might face, as Devex reported recently. In other U.N. leadership news, Martin Griffiths began his term as the new undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator in mid-July. “I will listen to, and speak up for, people whose lives are on the very edge,” Griffiths wrote on Twitter. Meanwhile, Collen Vixen Kelapile, Botswana’s ambassador and permanent representative to the U.N., was elected as the U.N. Economic and Social Council’s next president. Guterres also announced Benjamin Swanson as the next assistant secretary-general at the Office of Internal Oversight Services. Swanson, who succeeds David Muchoki Kanja, most recently served as the director of the investigations division of OIOS in New York. World Bank The World Bank announced key leadership changes in the Caribbean and in Central Asia. Lilia Burunciuc, former regional director for Central Asia, is now serving as country director for states in the Caribbean. Tatiana Proskuryakova, former country manager for Romania and Hungary, is the new regional director for Central Asia. Aldersgate Group Former British Prime Minister Theresa May announced that she is joining the Aldersgate Group, which advocates for a sustainable economy, as its chair. She said that under her leadership, the U.K. was the first major economy to legislate for carbon neutrality. Now, May will work to “help business achieve these ambitions & champion the green revolution,” she tweeted. European Union Several countries in the European Union announced major foreign affairs and development personnel changes. First, Spain has a new foreign affairs minister: José Manuel Albares, the former ambassador to France. He was appointed as part of a government reshuffle. His predecessor, Arancha González Laya, had been working on reform plans for Spanish development aid. Per Olsson Fridh was reappointed as Sweden’s minister for international development cooperation. And Tom de Bruijn was announced as the Netherlands’ new minister for foreign trade and development cooperation. BRAC International Shameran Abed, who has headed programs on microfinance and lifting people out of extreme poverty at BRAC International, is becoming its next executive director at the beginning of August. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank announced changes to its leadership team, with U.K. politician Danny Alexander assuming the role of vice president for policy and strategy, taking over for Joachim von Amsberg. Ludger Schuknecht will become the bank’s vice president and corporate secretary. Save the Children UK Gwen Hines, who previously served as director of international relations at the U.K. Department for International Development, is the new CEO at Save the Children UK, where she has worked since 2018. Hines is taking the helm from Kevin Watkins, who has announced that he is joining the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa at the London School of Economics as a visiting professor. Watkins recently reflected on his time at Save the Children in an open letter, writing that “we need to unlock the power of international cooperation for children.” Chatham House Helen Clark, former New Zealand prime minister and administrator at the U.N. Development Programme, was elected president at the Chatham House think tank. Clark will replace former U.K. Prime Minister John Major, who is retiring from the position. Former British diplomat Nigel Sheinwald has taken over as chair of the Chatham House Council, which oversees the management of the think tank. USAID U.S. President Joe Biden nominated surgeon and public health researcher Atul Gawande to lead global health development at the U.S. Agency for International Development, including work on COVID-19. Biden also announced Tamara Cofman Wittes, a senior fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, as his nominee for assistant administrator for the Middle East at USAID. Beth Tritter joined USAID as the lead for policy engagement, coordination, and communication in the agency’s COVID-19 task force.