Secretary-General appoints Marta Ruedas of Spain as Deputy Special Representative for Iraq

She will succeed Lise Grande of the United States who has served in Iraq since December 2014. The Secretary-General is grateful for Ms. Grande’s leadership and dedicated service during her tenure.

Ms. Ruedas brings to this position more than 27 years of experience in coordinating United Nations development and humanitarian work in conflict and post-conflict countries, as well as extensive experience supporting peacebuilding transitions. Ms. Ruedas has since 2015 served as the Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan.

She previously served as the UNDP Country Director in Afghanistan, Deputy Director of the UNDP Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery as United Nations Deputy Special Coordinator, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Lebanon. Earlier in her career she served as Deputy Regional Director at the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, Resident Coordinator in Bulgaria and in São Tomé and Príncipe. She also served with UNDP in Bolivia, Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Georgia, Nepal, Mongolia and Mexico.

Ms. Ruedas holds an MA in International Relations from Columbia University, United States.