Kirsi Madi made Deputy ED of UN Women

UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Kirsi Madi as Assistant Secretary-General, said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in a press release on Monday.

Guterres appointed Madi from Finland will serve as the Deputy Executive Director for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships at the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

Madi will transfer to UN Women from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), where she served as Director and Chief of Staff for nearly four years.

UN Women seeks to end gender inequality and eliminate discrimination as well as to strengthen the status, opportunities and rights of women and girls across the world. It is also responsible for coordinating gender equality efforts within the UN system.

Madi’s goal is to help improve UN Women and make it even more efficient and productive.

“It is essential to enhance the situation of women and girls worldwide so that societies can become more equal while respecting and upholding the rights of everyone,” Madi said.

Kirsi Madi has over 30 years of experience in working in UN agencies, both at the headquarters and country level.

Before her current position, she has served as Director of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and as UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, among other positions. Before starting her career in the UN, Kirsi Madi worked with development cooperation matters at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.