Jan Beagle

Jan Margaret Beagle is a diplomat from New Zealand who has been serving as the Director-General of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) since 2020. From 2017 until 2019, she was the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Management, appointed to this position by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on 1 June 2017. She then served as Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Systemwide Implementation of Chief Executive Board decisions.

Earlier in her career, Beagle held the position of Deputy Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, known as UNAIDS. From 2008 to 2009, she was the Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, and from 2005 to 2007, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management.

Education

Beagle holds a master's degree with first class honours in History and International Relations from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. In 2018, Beagle was a recipient of the University of Auckland Distinguished Alumni Award.

Career

Beginning her career in the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including as a delegate to the United Nations in New York, Beagle worked across the peace and security, human rights, development, management and gender sectors.

In her role as Under-Secretary-General for Management, Beagle was responsible for the overarching management functions of the United Nations Secretariat including human resources, finance, budget, information technology, enterprise resource planning, procurement, and general administration. Beagle played a leadership role in advancing the Secretary-General's vision for major organizational management reform and business model transformation. This included driving an extensive decentralization and delegation of authority initiative, the creation of new departmental structures for management, major reprofiling of positions and alignment of staff, and introduction of new budgeting, finance and enterprise management models.

As Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS, Beagle played a leading role in the development of th
UNAIDS Strategy 2016-2021
the first UN system strategy to be fully aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) following their adoption in September 2015, after a broad consultation in all regions and virtually. She led a comprehensive organisational realignment, reform and mobility programme. She has consistently introduced new and innovative ways of doing business, including at UNAIDS leading the development and implementation of a unique joint planning, budgeting and accountability framework mechanism encompassing the Secretariat and eleven cosponsoring organisations which has important implications for recognition of collective work in the SDG era. While working for UNAIDS, Beagle led a programme to increase the number of women working in senior positions across the agency. In 2017, she was investigated over harassment claims; the UNAIDS executive director, Michel Sidibé, eventually recommended the case be closed following an internal investigation that found the allegations were unsubstantiated. Then, on 10 February 2020 the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization (ILOAT), during its 129st session, in case 4241, ruled that claims of harassment were indeed substantiated and that UNAIDS "...incurred liability towards the complainant on account of this harassment...".

Beagle also served as Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), As Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management in the United Nations, she had responsibility for the development and implementation of organizational human resources policies and programmes for the global Secretariat. In this capacity, she led the development of the comprehensive human resources management reform strategy “Investing in People”.

Beagle has also held senior positions in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, the Office of the Administrator of UNDP, and the Department of Political and Security Council Affairs. Throughout her career, Beagle has been actively involved in intergovernmental and interagency fora, as well as numerous international conferences. She has represented the Secretary-General as spokesperson for the system in the General Assembly, International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) and the Pension Board, and as a member of the Boards of the United Nations System Staff College and UNITAR. She also served as the Chair of the Assistant Secretary-General Advisory Group of the United Nations Development Group.

Throughout her career, Beagle has played an active leadership role in the interagency bodies of the United Nations system, including as Chair of the High-Level Committee on Management of the Chief Executives Board (CEB). In November 2017, Beagle was appointed to lead the United Nation's High-Level Task-Force on Sexual Harassment, which is charged with improving support for sexual harassment victims and strengthening internal investigations. In May 2018, she launched the organization's screening system to prevent former employees guilty of sexual misconduct from finding new jobs with its agencies or other charities.

In 2019, Guterres appointed Beagle as his Special Adviser on System-wide Implementation of Chief Executive Board (CEB) decisions. In this capacity, she is to advise the Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General, the Chef de Cabinet and senior management in the system on ways to leverage system-wide agreements and accelerate implementation at global, regional and country levels.

Since 2020, Beagle has been serving as Director-General of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), succeeding Irene Khan.

Other activities

* International Gender Champions (IGC), Member of the Global Advisory Board
* United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC), Member of the Board of GovernorsBoard of Governors
United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beagle, Jan
Living people
New Zealand officials of the United Nations
University of Auckland alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
New Zealand women diplomats