05/12/2018 -  Susanna Moorehead, currently British Ambassador to Ethiopia and Djibouti and UK Permanent Representative to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, was today appointed as the new Chair of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC).

Ms Moorehead will take up her new position in early 2019, replacing outgoing DAC Chair Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, who was recently appointed United Nations Assistant Secretary-General serving as Deputy Executive Director of Partnerships at the UN Children’s Fund.

Over a 30-year career in international diplomacy and development, Ms Moorehead has worked as Director of West and Southern Africa at the UK Department for International Development, served as Executive Director on the Board of the World Bank and directed field-based famine and rehabilitation programmes in rural Mali for Save the Children.

During her ambassadorial posting in Addis Ababa, from January 2016, Ms Moorehead has worked closely with the new Ethiopian government to support reform.

“Ms Moorehead brings the DAC a wealth of experience in international development that ranges from high-level political strategizing to overseeing hard work on the ground in low-income rural villages,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría. “I am confident that Ms Moorehead will be a valuable leader of the DAC at this crucial time for international co-operation to reach the Sustainable Development Goals.”

The 30-member DAC is a forum for donor countries to agree on international principles, rules and standards for development co-operation. The DAC also publishes regular data and analysis on Official Development Assistance (ODA) flows and monitors how its members deliver on their commitments via Peer Reviews. The OECD’s Development Co-operation Directorate serves as the Secretariat to the DAC.

Ms Moorehead holds a master’s degree and a PhD in international relations from the London School of Economics and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of York, UK.

For further information journalists are invited to contact Catherine Bremer in the OECD Media Office (+33 1 45 24 97 00.)

 

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