Secretary-General Appoints Ib Petersen of Denmark Deputy Executive Director  for Management, United Nations Population Fund

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Ib Petersen of Denmark as Assistant Secretary-General to serve as the Deputy Executive Director for Management of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).  Mr. Petersen succeeds Laura Londen of Finland, to whom the Secretary-General and the Executive Director of UNFPA are grateful for her dedicated service to UNFPA.

Mr. Petersen, who recently served as Director for the Department of Migration, Conflict and Stabilization of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, brings to the position over 30 years of experience within the spheres of bilateral and multilateral affairs and development.  Prior to his position as Department Director, Mr. Petersen served as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations from 2013 to 2019, during which he held several important duties.  Most notably, Mr. Petersen has served on the Executive Boards of the United Nations development programmes, including as President of the Joint United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/UNFPA/United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Executive Board in 2017, and most recently as Special Envoy for the Nairobi Summit on the twenty-fifth Anniversary of the International Conference on Population (ICPD25), as well as Special Envoy for Conflict and Fragility.

Mr. Petersen started his long-serving career with the Danish Ministry in 1985.  Throughout his service, he notably held the positions of State Secretary of Development Cooperation, Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the United Nations from 2007 to 2009, and State Secretary for Development Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2013.  During this time, Mr. Petersen led the development of new strategies for Danish development cooperation, strengthened results-based management and successfully implemented development campaigns and initiatives to support economic growth in Africa, and to support women's rights and empowerment, including through the “MDG3 Global Call to Action” campaign.

Mr. Petersen holds a master’s degree in political science from the University of Aarhus.