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Sigrid A. M. Kaag, Regional Director, Middle East and North Africa
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| © UNICEF/NYHQ2009- 0684/Markisz |
| Ms. Sigrid Kaag |
Full credit must be given - see below.
Sigrid Kaag took up her assignment as UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa in December 2007. The Regional Office is based in Amman, Jordan.
Prior to this posting, Ms. Kaag served as Chief of Staff in the Office of the UNICEF Executive Director, from April 2006 until December 2007, and before that she was Deputy Director (Regional and Inter-Agency Affairs), Programme Division, at UNICEF Headquarters.
Before joining UNICEF in 2005, Ms. Kaag was senior UN adviser to the United Nations/World Bank Joint Assessment Mission for Sudan in the office of the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Khartoum in 2004-2005.
From 1998 to 2004, Ms. Kaag was Deputy Director of Programmes, Chief of Donor Relations, at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva.
Prior to this assignment, Ms. Kaag worked with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Middle East at its Headquarters location from 1994 to 1998, in charge of programme management and external affairs.
Ms. Kaag was a diplomat in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UN Political Affairs Division, before becoming an advisor on bilateral development cooperation from 1990 to 1993.
Prior to that, Ms. Kaag worked as an analyst for the Shell International Petroleum Company at its Headquarters in London from 1988 until 1990.
Ms. Kaag, a national of the Netherlands, obtained her first degree in Middle East Studies at the American University in Cairo (AUC) in 1985, followed by a Masters in Philosophy in International Relations from St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, in 1987. She received a second Masters’ degree in Politics and Economics of the Middle East from University of Exeter in 1988. She is fluent in several languages, including Dutch, English, Arabic, French, German and Spanish.
Photo credit
IMAGE RELEASE - CREDIT: © UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0684/Markisz. This photograph is available for use by bona fide news media organizations as part of reports or feature stories on UNICEF. Release permission is hereby granted for this purpose on the following conditions: - - Image content may not be changed by digital or any other means, except cropping. - Image may not be archived in any format or distributed to a third party by any non-UNICEF entity. No other rights than those specified are either granted or implied. THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN UNICEF.
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