Who's who in #globaldev: July appointments

U.K. Department for International Development Justine Greening bid goodbye to her role as U.K. secretary of state for international development early this month following a shake-up in British politics after David Cameron stepped down from his post as prime minister. Theresa May, who took over the reins from Cameron, has appointed Member of Parliament Priti Patel as the new U.K. aid chief. Patel will be leading the U.K. Department for International Development, which handles the bulk of U.K. foreign aid, during a period of uncertainty as Britain prepares its exit from the European Union. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development-DAC Charlotte Petri Gornitzka is the new chair of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee. She started her post on July 11, but will be doing part-time work until she fully transitions to the position in September. Gornitzka takes on the post after serving at the helm of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, which she led for more than five years. She replaces Erik Solheim, who was appointed by the U.N. General Assembly in May to lead the U.N. Environment Programme. GAIN Lawrence Haddad is also changing jobs soon. He’s leaving his position as senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute to serve as the executive director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition come Oct. 1. In a blog post published on the GAIN website, Haddad shared the reasons why he decided to join the international nonprofit. He said “GAIN and the entire nutrition community have a fantastic chance to change the way we think — and act — about how food systems, and the actors within them, can work better for good nutrition.” World Bank Come September, the World Bank will have a new chief economist. U.S. economist Paul Romer will be succeeding Kaushik Basu, who will be taking up his position as president of the International Economic Association in 2017. Prior to taking on his new role, Romer, a professor at the New York University School of Business, is already attracting attention. Members of the media refer to him as a “contrarian” and a “provocative voice in economics,” and the most “high-profile” for the position since Joseph Stiglitz, who served as chief economist of the bank from 1997 to 2000. World Health Organization The World Health Organization has found a leader for its new health emergencies program: Peter Salama, a medical epidemiologist and seasoned humanitarian who has worked for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Concern Worldwide and Médecins Sans Frontières. Salama comes to the role after more than a decade at UNICEF, most recently as regional director for the U.N. program’s work in the Middle East and North Africa, and as its global emergency coordinator for the crises in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Salama will be assuming his new role this week on July 27. UNICEF Australia UNICEF Australia has a new CEO. Tony Stuart is bringing his more than 20 years experience in the corporate sector to the U.N. program. Before joining UNICEF and assuming his new role on July 18, Stuart was Group CEO of the National Roads and Motorists’ Association and prior to that, CEO of Sydney Airports Corp. Most recently, he was appointed chair of the Advisory Board of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. Cardno and Abt Associates Development consulting firms Cardno and Abt Associates also welcomed two senior officials in its ranks this month. Todd Wager, previously president of Parsons Transportation Group, Inc., is Cardno’s new chief operating officer. Noel Samuel is bringing his corporate experience to Abt Associates as its new chief financial officer. Samuel was CFO at tech company immixGroup, Inc., and Dell Services Federal Government, Inc. Check out more insights and analysis for global development leaders like you, and sign up as an Executive Member to receive the information you need for your organization to thrive.