Ms Sigrid Kaag

Honorary graduates 2014-15

Ms Sigrid Kaag (LLD)

Tuesday 15 July 9:00am

Ms Sigrid Kaag is Special Coordinator of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-United Nations Joint Mission. The objective of the Mission is to eliminate the chemical weapons programme of the Syrian Arab Republic. The position is at the level of Under-Secretary General.

Ms Kaag brings a wealth of experience in international organisations and the diplomatic service, combined with country experience, notably in the Middle East. She was Assistant Secretary-General of the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy of the UN Development Programme (UNDP). She also served as Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Amman, Jordan, and prior to that as Chief of Staff to the Executive Director and Deputy Director of Programmes in New York.

Ms Kaag was Senior UN Adviser in the Office of the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Khartoum, Sudan. She was also the Chief of Donor Relations with the International Organisation for Migration, and Senior Programme Manager with the External Relations Office of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, covering the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

Before joining the UN system, Ms Kaag served in her country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Deputy Head of Sector in the UN Political Affairs Department at The Hague. Before joining the Netherlands Ministry, she worked for Shell International Petroleum Company in London.

Ms Kaag holds a Master of Philosophy in International Relations of the Middle East from the University of Exeter, and a masters degree in International Relations from St Antony’s College at Oxford University. Besides Dutch, she is fluent in English, French and German, and proficient in Arabic.