Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis (born 14 December 1955) is a Costa Rican economist who has been serving as Secretary General of the

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...

(UNCTAD) since 13 September 2021. Grynspan previously served as Ibero-American Secretary General (2014–2021) and as UN Under-Secretary-General and the Associate Administrator of the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

(2010–2014). She previously served as Director of UNDP's Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, appointed to the position by United Nations Secretary-General

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 December 2005. She was the

Vice President of Costa Rica The 1949 Constitution of Costa Rica established two vice-presidencies of Costa Rica, which are directly elected through a popular vote on a ticket with the president for a period of four years, with no immediate re-election. There has been various ...

from 1994 to 1998.

Early life and education

Grynspan is the daughter of Manuel Grynspan Burstin and Sara Mayufis Schapiro, immigrants from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

ancestry. Grynspan obtained a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in economics from the

University of Costa Rica The University of Costa Rica (Spanish: ''Universidad de Costa Rica,'' abbreviated UCR) is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro Mo ...

and later on a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in Economics from

Sussex University , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

Early career

Early in her career, Grynspan was a professor and researcher at the Economic Science Research Institute at the

Political career

Career in national politics

Grynspan has held various official functions in her country such as Vice-President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998 and concurrently as Housing Minister from 1996 to 1998, Coordinating Minister of Economy from 1995 to 1996, Coordinating Minister of Social Affairs from 1994 to 1998 and Vice-Minister of Finance from 1986 to 1988.

Career with the United Nations

Grynspan was appointed by UN Secretary-General

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 be the eighth secretary-general of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on 13 September 2021. She is the first woman to hold this position in the history of the organization. Grynspan served as Director of the Subregional Headquarters in Mexico of the

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, known as ECLAC, UNECLAC or in Spanish and Portuguese CEPAL, is a United Nations regional commission to encourage economic cooperation. ECLAC includes 46 member States (2 ...

(ECLAC) from 2001 to 2006, where she also served as Co-Chair of the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Executive Board. She was also a member of the UN Millennium Project’s Task Force on Poverty and Economic Development and of the UN High-Level Panel on Financing for Development. Grynspan served as Assistant-Secretary-General and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at

(UNDP) from 2006 to 2010. In 2010, she was appointed by UN Secretary-General

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 ...

to the position of UN Under-Secretary-General and the Associate Administrator, serving under the leadership of

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

. Grynspan is a member of the

Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and serving as the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribb ...

's (IDB) Program for the Support of Women´s Leadership and Representation (PROLEAD); She is former Vice President of the Board of Directors of the

International Food Policy Research Institute The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is an international agricultural research center founded in the early 1970s to improve the understanding of national agricultural and food policies to promote the adoption of innovations ...

(IFPRI) based in Washington, D.C.

SEGIB

Grynspan was unanimously elected Secretary General of the Ibero-American Secretary General (''Secretaria General Iberoamericana''), SEGIB, in a special meeting of the Ministers of External Relations on February 24, 2014 in Mexico City, in which representatives of all 22 member countries were present. She succeeded in the office

Enrique V. Iglesias Enrique Valentín Iglesias García (born 29 March 1930 in Arancedo, Asturias) is an economist of Uruguayan-Spanish dual citizenship. He was once president of the Inter-American Development Bank, an international institution dedicated to furthe ...

who had held the position since the establishment of SEGIB in 2005. In September 2016, Grynspan was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General

to serve as member of the Lead Group of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement. In early 2021, Grynspan was appointed by the

G20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, ...

to the High Level Independent Panel (HLIP) on financing the global commons for pandemic preparedness and response, co-chaired by

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (; born 13 June 1954) is a Nigerian economist, who has been serving as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization since March 2021. Notably, she is the first woman and first African to lead the World Trade Organiza ...

Tharman Shanmugaratnam Tharman Shanmugaratnam (Tamil: தர்மன் சண்முகரத்தினம்; born 25 February 1957) is a Singaporean politician and economist who has been serving as Senior Minister of Singapore since 2019 and has also been Co ...

and

Lawrence Summers Lawrence Henry Summers (born November 30, 1954) is an American economist who served as the 71st United States secretary of the treasury from 1999 to 2001 and as director of the National Economic Council from 2009 to 2010. He also served as pre ...

Return to the United Nations

In June 2021, following consultations with member states,

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 ...

proposed Grynspan as the next Secretary-General of the

(UNCTAD) in Geneva.

Recognition

In 2014 and 2015, Grynspan was recognized as one of the 50 leading intellectuals of Latin America and, in 2017, she received a Forbes Excellence Award and was granted the Grand Cross of Civil Order of Alfonso X “The Wise” by the

Spanish Government gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua , image = , caption = Logo of the Government of Spain , headerstyle = background-color: #efefef , label1 = Role , data1 = Executive power , label2 = Established , da ...

. In recognition of her professional achievements, the

University of Extremadura University of Extremadura (in es, Universidad de Extremadura) is a Spanish public university in Extremadura (Badajoz and Cáceres). It was founded in 1973 by Decree 991/1973, May 10 ( BOE May 18) of the Ministry of Education and Science of Sp ...

and the

European University EU Business School is a private business school with campuses in Geneva and Montreux (Switzerland), Barcelona (Spain), and Munich (Germany). It is a member of OMNES Education Group since 2022. History EU Business School was established in ...

conferred her an honorary doctorate.

Other activities

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), Member of the Global Councils on the Future of International Governance, Public-Private Cooperation & Sustainable Development, and the Poverty and Sustainable Development *

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

Scaling-up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, Member of the Steering Committee *

Society for International Development The Society for International Development (SID) was founded in Washington, D.C., United States, in 1957. SID has a network of individual and institutional members, local chapters and partner organisations, in more than 80 countries. It works with m ...

(SID), Member of the Governing Council * Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity (GISP), Member of the Advisory Board * Inter-American Dialogue, Member *

International Economic Forum of the Americas The International Economic Forum of the Americas (IEFA), is an international not-for-profit organization headquartered in Canada, with offices in Montreal, Toronto, Miami and Paris. The IEFA was created in 1995 to promote an exchange of views and ...

(IEFA), Member of the Advisory Board *

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

(ILO), Member of the Global Commission on the Future of Work * Fourth Sector Group, Co-Chair * Women Political Leaders Global Forum, Member * W20, Member * In 2021 the president of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, named Mrs Grynspan special international advisor to the Economic and Social Council of Argentina * In 2021 became member of the G20 High Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response

References

External links

Rebeca Grynspan takes over as head of UNCTADUNCTAD (Biographical note)UNCTAD (Speeches and Statements)
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Grynspan, Rebecca 1955 births Living people Alumni of the University of Sussex Costa Rican people of Polish-Jewish descent Government ministers of Costa Rica People from San José, Costa Rica United Nations Development Programme officials Vice presidents of Costa Rica Recipients of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise Women vice presidents Costa Rican officials of the United Nations Costa Rican Jews Members of the Inter-American Dialogue