Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis (born 14 December 1955) is a Costa Rican economist who has been serving as Secretary-General of the

UN 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) since 13 September 2021. Grynspan previously served as Ibero-American Secretary General (2014–2021) and as a UN Under-Secretary-General and the Associate Administrator of the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(2010–2014). She previously served as Director of UNDP's Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, appointed to the position by United Nations Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

in December 2005. She was the

Vice President of Costa Rica The 1949 Constitution of Costa Rica established two vice-presidencies of Costa Rica, which are directly elected through a popular vote on a ticket with the president for a period of four years, with no immediate re-election. There has been variou ...

from 1994 to 1998.

Early life and education

Grynspan is the daughter of Manuel Grynspan Burstin and Sara Mayufis Schapiro, immigrants from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

ancestry. Grynspan obtained a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in economics from the

University of Costa Rica The University of Costa Rica (Spanish: ''Universidad de Costa Rica,'' abbreviated UCR) is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro Mo ...

and later on a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in Economics from

Sussex University The University of Sussex is a public research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the South Downs National Park, and provide ...

Early career

Early in her career, Grynspan was a professor and researcher at the Economic Science Research Institute at the

Political career

Career in national politics

Grynspan has held various official functions in her country such as Vice-President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998 and concurrently as Housing Minister from 1996 to 1998, Coordinating Minister of Economy from 1995 to 1996, Coordinating Minister of Social Affairs from 1994 to 1998 and Vice-Minister of Finance from 1986 to 1988.

Career with the United Nations

Source: Grynspan was appointed by UN Secretary-General

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), ...

to be the eighth secretary-general of UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on 13 September 2021. She is the first woman to hold this position in the history of the organization. Grynspan served as Director of the Subregional Headquarters in Mexico of the

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC, ECLAC or ''CEPAL'', in Spanish: ''Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe'') is a United Nations regional commission to encourage economic cooper ...

(ECLAC) from 2001 to 2006, where she also served as Co-Chair of the

International Food Policy Research Institute The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is an international research center focused on agriculture and food systems that provides research-based policy solutions to reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition throughout low- ...

's Executive Board. She was also a member of the UN Millennium Project's Task Force on Poverty and Economic Development and of the UN High-Level Panel on Financing for Development. Grynspan served as an Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the

(UNDP) from 2006 to 2010. In 2010, she was appointed by UN Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

to the position of UN Under-Secretary-General and the Associate Administrator, serving under the leadership of

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

UN Trade and Development Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan during the opening of the UNCTAD60 Global Leaders Forum

Grynspan is a member of the Program for the Support of Women's Leadership and Representation (PROLEAD) of the

Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international development finance institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America. It serves as one of the leading sources of development financing for the countri ...

(IDB), and she is former vice president of the board of directors of the

(IFPRI) based in Washington, D.C.

SEGIB

Source: Grynspan was unanimously elected Secretary General of the

Ibero-American General Secretariat The Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) is the permanent support body to the Pro-Tempore Secretariat in the preparation of Ibero-American Summits. Founded in 2005 in replacement of the Secretariat of Ibero-American Cooperation, its main task ...

(SEGIB), at a special meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers on 24 February 2014 in Mexico City, in which representatives of all 22 member countries were present. She succeeded in the office Enrique V. Iglesias, who had held the position since the establishment of SEGIB in 2005. In September 2016, Grynspan was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General

to serve as a member of the Lead Group of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement. In early 2021, Grynspan was appointed by the

G20 The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stabil ...

to the High-Level Independent Panel (HLIP) on financing the global commons for pandemic preparedness and response, co-chaired by

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (; born 13 June 1954) is a Nigerian economist, who has been serving as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization since March 2021. She is the first woman and first African to lead the World Trade Organization as d ...

Tharman Shanmugaratnam Tharman Shanmugaratnam (born 25 February 1957) is a Singaporean politician and economist who has been the current and ninth President of Singapore since 2023. Prior to his presidency, Tharman served as Senior Minister of Singapore between ...

and

Lawrence Summers Lawrence Henry Summers (born November 30, 1954) is an American economist who served as United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001 and as the director of the National Economic Council from 2009 to 2010. He also served as presiden ...

Return to the United Nations

In June 2021, following consultations with member states,

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 ...

proposed Grynspan as the next Secretary-General of the

(UNCTAD) in Geneva. In 2021, Grynspan became a member of the G20 High-Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. That same year, the president of Argentina,

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer, and academic who served as President of Argentina from 2019 to 2023. He was also the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers from 2003 to 2008. His tenure as Cabin ...

, named her as special international advisor to the Economic and Social Council of Argentina.

Recognition

In 2014 and 2015, Grynspan was recognized as one of the 50 leading intellectuals of Latin America and, in 2017, she received a Forbes Excellence Award and was granted the Grand Cross of the

Civil Order of Alfonso X The Wise The Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise () is a Spanish civil order established in 1939, recognising activities in the fields of education, science, culture, higher education and research. The order was created on 23 May 1902 by Royal decree as t ...

by the

Spanish Government The government of Spain () is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of the Kingdom of Spain. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and the Ministers; the prime minister has the o ...

. In recognition of her professional achievements, the

University of Extremadura University of Extremadura (in ) is a Spanish public university in Extremadura (Badajoz and Cáceres). It was founded in 1973 by Decree 991/1973, May 10 ( BOE May 18) of the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain. Currently the University ...

and the

European University EU Business School is a private business school with campuses in Geneva (Switzerland), Barcelona (Spain), and Munich (Germany). It is a member of OMNES Education Group since 2022. History EU Business School was established in 1973. Its cur ...

conferred her an honorary doctorate.

Other activities

Paris School of International Affairs The Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) is a graduate school of Sciences Po (also referred to as the ''Institut d'études politiques de Paris'') based in Paris, France, and is one of the most prestigious graduate schools for internationa ...

(PSIA), Member of the Strategic Committee *

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

(WEF), Member of the Global Councils on the Future of International Governance, Public-Private Cooperation & Sustainable Development, and the Poverty and Sustainable Development *

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

Scaling-up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, Member of the Steering Committee *

Society for International Development The Society for International Development (SID) was founded in Washington, D.C., United States, in 1957. SID has a network of individual and institutional members, local chapters and partner organisations, in more than 80 countries. It works with m ...

(SID), Member of the Governing Council * Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity (GISP), Member of the Advisory Board *

Inter-American Dialogue The Inter-American Dialogue (Spanish and Portuguese: ''Diálogo Interamericano''), also known as the Dialogue or IAD, is a U.S.-based think tank in the field of international affairs primarily related to the Western Hemisphere. Headquartered in ...

, Member * International Economic Forum of the Americas (IEFA), Member of the Advisory Board *

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

(ILO), Member of the Global Commission on the Future of Work * Fourth Sector Group, Co-Chair * Women Political Leaders Global Forum, Member * W20, Member

References

External links

Rebeca Grynspan takes over as head of UNCTADUNCTAD (Biographical note)UNCTAD (Speeches and Statements)
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Grynspan, Rebecca 1955 births Living people Alumni of the University of Sussex Costa Rican people of Polish-Jewish descent Government ministers of Costa Rica National Liberation Party (Costa Rica) politicians People from San José, Costa Rica United Nations Development Programme officials Vice presidents of Costa Rica Recipients of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise Women vice presidents of Costa Rica Costa Rican officials of the United Nations Costa Rican Jews Members of the Inter-American Dialogue