Dr Natalia Kanem reappointed as Executive Director of the UNFPA

Natalia Kanem has been reappoited as Executive Director of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for a second term of four years.

Dr. Natalia Kanem joined UNFPA in 2014 as UNFPA Country Representative in the United Republic of Tanzania.  In 2016, she was named Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director (Programme), before being appointed Executive Director in October 2017, bringing more than 30 years of strategic leadership experience in the fields of preventive medicine, public and reproductive health, social justice and philanthropy to the role.

Dr Kanem who whom we have interviewed about her role before, tweeted to her 47K followers: “I am honoured to have been reappointed as Executive Director of @UNFPA for a second term. I am grateful to @UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres and our Executive Board for their trust in me to lead this extraordinary organization. #TheMarchContinues!”

In a statement released Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed appreciation of UNFPA’s “powerful advocacy to advance the sexual and reproductive health and rights agenda, to address population dynamics, and to empower youth, as well as UNFPA’s focus on accountability and effective management, and its commitment to delivering transformative results in both development and humanitarian settings to end the unmet need for contraception, end preventable maternal deaths and end gender-based violence in all its forms.”

UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Its mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.