Gerritje "Gerda" Verburg (born 19 August 1957) is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary ...

(CDA) party and trade union leader From 2011 until 2016 Verburg served as Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

organizations for Food and Agriculture in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

(

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

IFAD The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD; french: link=no, Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA)) is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to addres ...

and

WFP The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен� ...

) succeeding former CDA politician

Agnes van Ardenne Anna Maria Agnes "Agnes" van Ardenne-Van der Hoeven (born 21 January 1950) is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). Career Agnes van Ardenne was born in Maasland in 1950. Before taking office as a me ...

. As a member of the

(Christen-Democratisch Appèl) she was an MP from 1998 to 2007 and again from 2010 to 2011. She also served as Minister of Agriculture in the

fourth Balkenende cabinet The fourth Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Christian Union ( ...

from 2007 to 2010. As an MP she focused on matters of

social affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of ...

, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...

and

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...

policy.

Early life and education

Born in a family of farmers, Verburg attended mavo and

havo ''Hoger algemeen voortgezet onderwijs'' (havo, meaning "higher general continued education" in Dutch) is a stream in the secondary educational system of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Suriname. It has five grades and is generally attended at ...

at Protestant schools in

Bodegraven Bodegraven () is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The former municipality covers an area of of which is water. The former municipality of Bodegraven also includes the communities Mei ...

and

Alphen aan den Rijn Alphen aan den Rijn (; en, "Alphen upon Rhine" or "Alphen on the Rhine") is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The city is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn (Old Rhine), where the r ...

. After completing her secondary education, she studied personnel work and labour relations at IJsselpoort Protestant School of Social Work in Kampen from 1976 to 1980.

Career

Early career

Verburg began to work for Christian Rural Youth as general-secretary. In 1982 she began to work for the National Federation of Christian Trade Unions in the Netherlands. Between 1982 and 1986 as youth worker of the construction trade union and between 1986 and 1990 as chair of the CNV youth labour union. Between 1990 and 1997 she was on the union's board and she represented the union in the

Social Economic Council The Social and Economic Council (Dutch: ''Sociaal-Economische Raad'', SER) is a major economic advisory council to the cabinet of the Netherlands. Formally it heads a system of sector-based regulatory organisations. It represents the social par ...

and the

European Trade Union Confederation The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is the major trade union organisation representing workers at the European level. In its role as a European social partner, the ETUC works both in a consulting role with the European Commission and n ...

(ETUC). Between 1997 and 1998 Verburg worked as a businesswoman in communication and projects. She has also been a member of the

Social and Economic Council The Social and Economic Council ( Dutch: ''Sociaal-Economische Raad'', SER) is a major economic advisory council to the cabinet of the Netherlands. Formally it heads a system of sector-based regulatory organisations. It represents the social pa ...

and the Labour Foundation. She has served on the executive committee of the European Trade Union Confederation, and on the boards of the Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation, the Royal Dutch Equestrian Sports Federation (KNHS) and ''Stichting Geuzenverzet''.

Political career

In Dutch general election of 1998, Verburg was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives for the

. She was one of the few

members who voted in favour of the legalisation of gay marriages. In 2003 Verburg was candidate for President for the House of Representatives, but she was defeated by

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

candidate

Frans Weisglas Frans Willy Weisglas (born 8 August 1946) is a retired Dutch politician, diplomat and economist. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 16 May 2002 until 30 Nove ...

. Verburg was from 2003 Vice- Chair of the Parliamentary Party in

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. She was the chair of the

commission on

. From 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010 Verburg was Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in the Cabinet Balkenende IV, and the first openly

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

Minister of Christian Democratic signature in a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. In 17 June 2010 she returned to the House of Representatives until 30 June 2011.

Roles in the United Nations

From 1 July 2011, Verburg served as the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the

organizations for Food and Agriculture in

(

and

) succeeding former CDA politician

. In this capacity, she chaired the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS) between 2013 and 2015. In 2014, Verburg was appointed Chair of the Global Agenda Council for Food and Nutrition Security of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

(WEF). In March 2016, Verburg was appointed by

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

as Coordinator of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement. Later that year, Ban also appointed her to serve as member of the Lead Group of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement. In 2020, Verburg was appointed by

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socia ...

to serve on the Advisory Committee for the 2021 Food Systems Summit, chaired by Inger Andersen.

, press release of June 29, 2020.

Personal life

Verburg is openly

and lives with her partner Willy Westerlaken in

Woerden Woerden () is a city and a municipality in central Netherlands. Due to its central location between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht, and the fact that it has rail and road connections to those cities, it is a popular town for commu ...

, whom she married in 2012.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
G. (Gerda) Verburg
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Verburg, Gerda 1957 births Living people Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Dutch expatriates in Italy Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch officials of the United Nations Dutch trade union leaders Dutch women diplomats 21st-century Dutch diplomats Food and Agriculture Organization officials International Fund for Agricultural Development people Lesbian diplomats Lesbian politicians LGBT cabinet members of the Netherlands LGBT Calvinist and Reformed Christians LGBT conservatism LGBT members of the Parliament of the Netherlands Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers of Agriculture of the Netherlands Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau People from Alphen aan den Rijn People from Woerden Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands Representatives of the Netherlands to the Food and Agriculture Organization Women government ministers of the Netherlands World Food Programme people 20th-century Dutch women politicians 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch women politicians 21st-century Dutch politicians Dutch women ambassadors