Wivina Belmonte is a

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 humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

staff member. She is a national of both Spain and Canada, and since 2016 she has been the organisation's Deputy Regional Director for East Asia Pacific.

Education and early career

In 1982 Belmonte completed an undergraduate degree at

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning Wo ...

in Ottawa, Canada, having majored in international relations and journalism. She subsequently worked in the London office of the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

and in 1992 became the youngest person to hold the position of senior producer at the broadcaster.

Development and aid career

In 1999, Belmonte joined the International Red Cross and Red Crescent as project manager for a global campaign raising HIV/AIDS awareness within the Red Cross movement. The project was commended by

UNAIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) (, ONUSIDA) is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an ...

as an example of best organisational practice. In 2001, Belmonte joined UNICEF as the organisation's spokesperson at the

Palais des Nations The Palace of Nations (french: Palais des Nations, ) is the home of the United Nations Office at Geneva, located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was built between 1929 and 1938 to serve as the headquarters of the League of Nations. It has served ...

in Geneva, and later as UNICEF's Chief of Communications there. In 2005 she served as campaign manager in a worldwide campaign on children and AIDS, co-launched by UNICEF and UNAIDS. She later joined UNICEF's regional office in Latin America and the Caribbean, where she helped design public advocacy efforts for child focused development initiatives in 24 countries. Belmonte was then appointed to the position of Deputy Director of Communications at UNICEF's headquarters in New York, a position she held until July 2012 when she took up the leadership of UNICEF's country program in Malaysia. In this role, she worked with the country's corporate sector and focused on digital citizenship, child online protection and how innovation can deliver improved results for children. Since 2016 Belmonte has been the organisation's Deputy Regional Director for East Asia Pacific.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belmonte, Wivina Living people Carleton University alumni UNICEF people Spanish officials of the United Nations Canadian officials of the United Nations Year of birth missing (living people)