Magnus Magnusson (He / Him)

Magnus Magnusson joined UNESCO 1 September 2017 as Director for Partnerships and Outreach in the Human and Social Science Sector. In July 2022 he was appointed as Director (Officer in Charge) for the UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan). Prior to joining UNESCO, Magnus held positions as Vice President for Emerging Markets and Sustainability at Eco Capacity Exchange, Head of Government Relations, Northern Europe at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Head of Business Development and External Relations at the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and Regional Manager at the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) with responsibility for a USD 150 million infrastructure portfolio in Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana and Ethiopia. Magnus started his career at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs with desk responsibility for the World Bank, regional development banks, IFAD and micro finance. Thereafter he joined the Nordic Council of Ministers as Senior Advisor for the finance, transport and development cooperation sectors. He also acted as secretary to the Board of Governors of the Nordic Investment Bank, Nordic Development Fund and representative in the Board of the Nordic Project Fund. Hereafter Magnus joined the United Nations Environment Programme/GRID Arendal as Head of the Stockholm Office. A Swedish citizen, Mr. Magnusson has an academic background in social sciences, business administration and economics and environmental studies from Uppsala University, Swedish Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm School of Economics and University of California, Berkeley University. He wrote his thesis on microfinance in rural Laos.