Wednesday March the 21st, 10:00 am
Keynote Speech
Monique Barbut was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), starting 1 October 2013.
Ms. Barbut has been committed to the issues of Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought through her previous work as Chief Executive Officer of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF).
During her tenure, the Fourth GEF Assembly amended the GEF Instrument to list UNCCD among the treaties for which the facility acts in the role of financial mechanism. The GEF, as a financial mechanism of the UNCCD, directly contributes to the implementation of the Convention, including the 10-year (2008–2018) Strategic Plan and Framework, adopted by the Conference of Parties during the Eighth Session.
Ms. Barbut attended the first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP1) to the UNCCD as a delegate of the Government of France. She attended COP9 in Buenos Aires as key note speaker and substantively contributed to its outcome.
Prior to joining the GEF, she served as Director of the Division of Technology, Industry and Economics at the United Nations Environment Programme (2003-2006). From 1996 to 2003, Ms. Barbut held different positions in the Agence Française pour le Développement (AFD). Her work there related to the French aid system, particularly sustainable project financing activities in the French overseas territories, and activities relating to ex-post evaluation.