Mari Simonen (born September 23, 1951) currently serves as Deputy Executive Director, External Relations, United Nations Affairs and Management of UNFPA, the

United Nations Population Fund The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies ...

and focuses on United Nations reforms in particular. Her appointment was approved by

UN 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 ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...

in March 2006. Simonen, of Finland, was most recently the Director of UNFPA's Technical Support Division, a post she had held since November 1999. In that capacity, she oversaw a staff of international technical experts in public health; reproductive health; HIV/AIDS; population studies; gender and human rights; and other specialized areas of work in support of population and development issues worldwide. Prior to that position, Simonen was the Chief of the Office of the Executive Director at UNFPA, a strategic position from which she helped the Executive Director carry out her functions as the secretary-general of the historic 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development. Before joining the United Nations in 1980, Simonen worked at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. She holds a doctorate degree from that university in Education. She has a bachelor's degree in sociology from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and a master's degree in sociology of education from the

Stanford Graduate School of Education The Stanford Graduate School of Education (also known as Stanford GSE, or GSE) is one of the seven schools of Stanford University, and is one of the top education schools in the United States. It was founded in 1891 and offers master's and doc ...

. In November 2011, Simonen was appointed Chair of VSO, an international development charity working through volunteers in over 35 countries across Africa, Asia and the Pacific.

References

Finnish officials of the United Nations Living people 1951 births Stanford Graduate School of Education alumni {{Finland-bio-stub