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'', (English: Confederate Ecologists for the Organisation of Original Struggles)'' is a French-speaking political party in Belgium based on green politics. The ...

party who served as Deputy 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) 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 The Université catholique de Louvain (also known as the Catholic University of Louvain, the English translation of its French name, and the University of Louvain, its official English name) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It ...

Political career

* 1994–1999 : Federal Secretary and Spokesperson of

(with

Jacky Morael Jacky Morael (26 November 1959 – 6 December 2016) was a Belgian politician. References 1959 births 2016 deaths Ecolo politicians {{Green-party-stub ...

and Dany Josse, then

Jacky Morael Jacky Morael (26 November 1959 – 6 December 2016) was a Belgian politician. References 1959 births 2016 deaths Ecolo politicians {{Green-party-stub ...

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 ( nl, Federale regering, french: Gouvernement fédéral, german: Föderalregierung) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretary of state ("junior", or deputy-min ...

Guy Verhofstadt Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt (; ; born 11 April 1953) is a Belgian politician who was the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe from 2009 to 2019, and has been a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium ...

'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, nl, Luchthaven Brussel, vls, Vliegpling Brussel, german: Flughafen Brüssel is an international airport northeast of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In 2019, more than 26 million passengers arrived or departed at Bruss ...

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 (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

) (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 an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, 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 was 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 years. Th ...

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 elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

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. Role Vice-presidents are members of the Bureau and chair the plenary when the president is not i ...

under the leadership of president

Martin Schulz Martin Schulz (born 20 December 1955) is a German politician who served as Leader of the Social Democratic Party from 2017 to 2018, and was a Member of the Bundestag (MdB) from 2017 to 2021. Previously he was President of the European Parliame ...

between 2009 and 2014. In addition, she was a member of the

Committee on Budgets The Committee on Budgets (BUDG) is a committee of the European Parliament. It has 41 members plus 39 substitute members. The committee's current chair is Jean Arthuis, who has held this position since 7 July 2014.Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and the delegation to the

ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly The ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly was created to bring together the elected representatives of the European Union (the Members of the European Parliament) and the elected representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states ("ACP c ...

. 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 (EU), by creating a network of citizens, think tanks, NGOs, academics, writers and politicians who support the idea o ...

in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the 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 adopts ...

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

Jacques Delors Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (born 20 July 1925) is a French politician who served as the 8th President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. He served as Minister of Finance of France from 1981 to 1984. He was a Member of the European Par ...

Daniel Cohn-Bendit Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit (; ; born 4 April 1945) is a French-German politician of Jewish descent. He was a student leader during the unrest of May 1968 in France and was also known during that time as ''Dany le Rouge'' (French for "Danny the Red" ...

Andrew Duff Andrew Nicholas Duff, OBE (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 ...

and

Elmar Brok Elmar Peter Brok (born 14 May 1946) is a German politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1980 until 2019, who is best known for his role as chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs. He is a mem ...

. Pamela_Coke-Hamilton,_Prime_Minister_Mia_Mottley_and_Durant._.html" ;"title="Mia_Mottley.html" ;"title="Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Prime Minister Mia Mottley">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 Nasrin Sotoudeh ( fa, نسرین ستوده) is a human rights lawyer in Iran. She has represented imprisoned Iranian opposition activists and politicians following the disputed June 2009 Iranian presidential elections as well as prisoners sent ...

; and filmmaker

Jafar Panahi Jafar Panâhi ( fa, جعفر پناهی, ; born 11 July 1960) is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and film editor, commonly associated with the Iranian New Wave film movement. After several years of making short films and working as an ass ...

Career at UNCTAD, 2017–2022

In June 2017,

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 ...

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 ...

, in consultation with

Mukhisa Kituyi Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi (born October 20, 1956) is a Kenyan politician who served as Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD from September 2013-February 2021 when he stepped down for his presidential ambitio ...

, decided to appoint Durant as Deputy Secretary-General of the

(UNCTAD). Durant succeeded Joakim Reiter. On 16 February 2021, Durant replaced

at the head of the organisation, becoming acting Secretary-General 2022.

Other activities

Friends of Europe Friends of Europe is a Brussels-based, not-for-profit think-tank for European Union policy analysis and debate. The organisation, established in 1999, has no political or national allegiance and is independent of the EU institutions. Its declared ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2020)Friends of Europe appoints 29 new members to its Board of Trustees

, 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 Ecolo MEPs Ecolo politicians Eurofederalism MEPs for Belgium 2009–2014 21st-century women MEPs for Belgium Members of the Belgian Federal Parliament