Isabelle Annie J. Durant (born 4 September 1954) is a Belgian politician of the

Ecolo Ecolo (), officially Écologistes Confédérés pour l'organisation de luttes originales (, ) is a French-speaking political party in Belgium based on green politics. The party is active in Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region. Ecolo's F ...

party who served as Deputy Secretary-General of the

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UN 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 United Nations General Assembl ...

(UNCTAD) from 2017 to 2021 and as acting Secretary-General of the organisation from 2021 to 2022.

Early life and education

Durant graduated as a nurse, then became a vocational trainer for the care sector, and worked with schools in working-class districts. She later complemented her nursing degree with a bachelor's degree in social and economic politics from the

Université catholique de Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

Political career

* 1994–1999 : Federal Secretary and Spokesperson of

(with Jacky Morael and Dany Josse, then Jacky Morael and Jean-Luc Roland)

Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, 1999–2003

Between 1999 and 2003, Durant served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mobility and Transport in the

Belgian federal government The Federal Government of Belgium ( ; ; ) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretaries of state ("junior", or deputy-ministers who do not sit in the Council of Ministers) drawn from the politi ...

Guy Verhofstadt Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt (; ; born 11 April 1953) is a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008. He was a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium from 2009 until 2024. He was a me ...

's first government. In 2003, Durant and her party colleague Olivier Deleuze resigned from Verhofstadt's government one week before the national elections and after a clash over the issue of night flights from

Brussels Airport Brussels Airport is the main international airport of Belgium. It is located in the municipality of Zaventem in Flemish Brabant, northeast of Brussels. Also informally known as Brussels-National Airport or Brussels-Zaventem Airport, Brussels ...

Member of the Senate, 2003–2011

Durant was a member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

between 2003 and 2011. As a Senator, she served on Committees for Foreign Affairs, Social Affairs and participated in many elections observation missions (

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

) (2003-2009).Secretary-General Appoints Isabelle Durant of Belgium as Deputy Secretary-General of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, press release of 9 June 2017. From 2004, Durnat also served as Federal Secretary and Spokesperson of

, this time with Jean-Michel Javaux and Claude Brouir but also as a replacement for Evelyne Huytebroeck who became minister in the

Government of the Brussels-Capital Region The government of the Brussels-Capital Region ( ; ) is the political administration of the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) An election is held every five ye ...

Member of the European Parliament, 2009–2014

Durant became a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

in the 2009 European elections. She served as

Vice President of the European Parliament There are fourteen vice-presidents of the European Parliament who sit in for the president in presiding over the plenary of the European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and ...

under the leadership of president

Martin Schulz Martin Schulz (born 20 December 1955) is a German politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany from 1994 to 2017 and a Member of the Bundestag (MdB) from 2017 to 2021. During his tenure he was Leader of the Progress ...

between 2009 and 2014. In addition, she was a member of the Committee on Budgets, the delegation for relations with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and the delegation to the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. In 2012, she also served on a cross-party working group which presented new rules for what gifts MEPs might accept. On 15 September 2010 Durant supported the new initiative

Spinelli Group The Spinelli Group is an initiative founded with a view to reinvigorate the endeavour for federalisation of the European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic uni ...

in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

, which was founded to reinvigorate the strive for federalisation of the European Union (EU). Other prominent supporters include

Jacques Delors Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (; 20 July 192527 December 2023) was a French politician who served as the eighth president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. Delors played a key role in the creation of the single market, the euro and th ...

, Daniel Cohn-Bendit,

Andrew Duff Andrew Nicholas Duff (born 25 December 1950) is a British politician who presided over the Union of European Federalists (UEF) from 2008 to 2013. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the ...

and

Elmar Brok Elmar Peter Brok (born 14 May 1946) is a German politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1980 until 2019. He was the chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs from 1999-2007 and from 2012-2017. He i ...

. Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Durant. ">Mia_Mottley.html" ;"title="Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Prime Minister Mia Mottley">Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Durant. In December 2013, Durant led a European Parliament delegation – including Tarja Cronberg, Cornelia Ernst Marietje Schaake and Josef Weidenholzer – visiting Tehran where members met parliament speaker Ali Larijani and his brother, Mohammad Javad Larijani, head of the judiciary's high council on human rights; human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh; and filmmaker

Jafar Panahi Jafar Panâhi (, ) (born 11 July 1960) is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and editor. He is known internationally for his contributions to Iranian cinema and has received numerous awards at major film festivals, including the Palme d'Or ...

Career at UNCTAD, 2017–2022

In June 2017,

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

, in consultation with Mukhisa Kituyi, decided to appoint Durant as Deputy Secretary-General of the

(UNCTAD). Durant succeeded Joakim Reiter. On 16 February 2021, Durant replaced Mukhisa Kituyi at the head of the organisation, becoming acting Secretary-General 2022.

Other activities

* Friends of Europe, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2020)Friends of Europe appoints 29 new members to its Board of Trustees
Friends of Europe, press release of June 25, 2020.

Honours

* 2014: Grand Officer Order of Leopold

Notes

External links

Personal website of Isabelle Durant
(Fr)
Spinelli Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durant, Isabelle 1954 births Living people 20th-century Belgian women politicians 20th-century Belgian politicians Deputy prime ministers of Belgium Transport ministers of Belgium Ecolo MEPs Ecolo politicians Eurofederalism MEPs for Belgium 2009–2014 21st-century women MEPs for Belgium Members of the Senate (Belgium)