51³Ô¹Ï Secretary-General António Guterres announced on 18 September 2024 the appointment of Susan Brown of Switzerland to the position of Assistant Administrator and Director, Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy of the 51³Ô¹Ï Development Programme (UNDP).
Ms. Brown succeeds Ulrika Modeer of Sweden to whom the Secretary-General has expressed his gratitude for the important duties and responsibilities she has performed during her six years at UNDP.
A senior advocacy, policy and communications expert, Ms. Brown comes to UNDP after a lifetime commitment to the development of good public policy, sustainable development advocacy and constructive political engagement. Her most recent work was providing strategic advisory, advocacy, policy and communications support to various international organizations in the fields of sustainable development, gender and public health.
Prior to this, from 2016 to 2022, she was Director of Public Policy Engagement at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a public-private partnership of the World Health Organization (WHO), 51³Ô¹Ï Children’s Fund (UNICEF) the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, civil society, the private sector and government partners. From 2005 to 2016, she worked at WWF International, for the last six years as Director of Global and Regional Policy and Head of the Policy and External Affairs Cluster, achieving significant outcomes for the organization across multilateral dialogues over all areas of sustainable development. Prior to this, she worked as a print journalist from 2000 to 2005, as a senior adviser in Australian Federal Parliament from 1994 to 2000, and from 1993 to 1994 as Coordinator of the North Queensland Conservation Council.
Ms. Brown has developed a deep understanding of geopolitical dynamics and decision-making processes. She has built strong relationships with country Governments, global institutions and civil society organizations at the executive level and led global network teams to significant recognition of their objectives in major international processes and forums.
Ms. Brown has an executive master’s degree in environmental governance and policy making from the Geneva Graduate Institute, Switzerland, and a Bachelor of Social Science in social and environmental assessment and policy from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University in Melbourne, Australia. She speaks English and French.
