Albert Gerard Koenders (; born 28 May 1958) is a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) who served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 2014 to 2017. He is currently a professor at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

and a special envoy of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

. He is also chair of the Dutc
Advisory Council on International Affairs
a member of the board of trustees of the

International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a global non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, conducting research and analysis on global crises. ...

and a commissioner of the International Commission on Missing Persons. Koenders studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public university, public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in ...

and the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

, and completed a second

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

. He was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 1997 to 2007 and served as

Minister for Development Cooperation The Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Aid () is a Minister without Portfolio (Netherlands), minister without portfolio in the Netherlands. The officeholder, who is a member of the Cabinet of the Netherlands, Cabinet and the Council of M ...

from 2007 until 2010. He later was the

UN 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 ...

's Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Operation in the Ivory Coast (2011–2013), and Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (2013–2014). Koenders founded the Parliamentary Network on the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

and has served as President of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Parliamentary Assembly and leader of its Socialist Group.

Biography

Early life

Albert Gerard Koenders was born on 28 May 1958 in

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

, where he grew up in a

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

environment. ,
Bevlogen padvinder die bui ziet hangen
, ''

de Volkskrant ''De Volkskrant'' (; ), stylized as de Volkskrant, is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium- ...

'', 2008. Retrieved on 16 October 2014. He was a

boy scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...

. He attended the secondary school Carolus Clusius College in

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

, where he completed the pre-university program. Koenders studied political science at the Free University Amsterdam (sitting his candidates examination in 1978) and political and social sciences (international relations and economics) at the

(graduating in 1983). He received his

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 ...

degree from

, where he studied at the School of Advanced International Studies in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and Washington from 1979 to 1981. Koenders is not married.

Politics

Early career

Koenders was adjunct professor at Webster University in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

from 1987 to 1993. In 2002 he was

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

at Johns Hopkins University in Bologna teaching about conflict prevention and management, and post-conflict reconstruction. Due to his past experience of being a professor, he occasionally participates in lectures about specific aspects of political science at various universities around the Netherlands. From 1983 to 1993, Koenders worked as an aide for the Labour Party in the House of Representatives. He served as an adviser to the United Nations Operation in Mozambique in the early 1990s, his first job outside the Netherlands. Between 1995 and 1997, he worked in the private office of Hans van den Broek, who was then the Dutch European commissioner and had shared responsibility for foreign policy. During that time, one of his tasks was defining the EU’s competences on foreign policy.

House of Representatives

Koenders was a member of the House of Representatives from 1997 until 2007. In 1997, he filled the vacant seat after member of parliament Maarten van Traa died in a car accident. He was member of the permanent parliamentary committees on

foreign affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

and on

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

. From 2002 until 2003 he was a member of the parliamentary hearing committee on the

Srebrenica massacre The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, was the July 1995 genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. It was mainly perpetrated by unit ...

. From 17 November 2006 to 19 February 2007 he was president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

Minister of Development Cooperation

Koenders was

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

for

Development Cooperation Development aid (or development cooperation) is a type of aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. It is distinguished from humanitarian aid by ...

(

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

) in the

Fourth Balkenende cabinet The fourth Balkenende cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Government of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. The Cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet was formed by ...

sworn in on 22 February 2007. He came under political fire as minister in July 2007, after it became known that an event sponsored by the Ministry, ''Het akkoord van Schokland'', was organized without a public procurement process stipulated under European Union law. Instead, the event was organized by an event bureau closely tied to the Labour Party itself. Koenders cited time shortage. Between 2008 and 2009, Koenders was part of a High-Level Taskforce on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems, which had been launched to help strengthen health systems in the 49 poorest countries in the world and was chaired by UK Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

and

president Robert Zoellick. In 2009, he criticized

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

for his assertion that distributing condoms is not the solution to AIDS and actually makes the problem worse.

United Nations

Between 2011 and 2013, he served as the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Operation in the Ivory Coast. Between 2013 and 2014, he was the Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

appointed by

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 ...

Minister of Foreign Affairs

On 17 October 2014, Koenders succeeded

Frans Timmermans Franciscus Cornelis Gerardus Maria Timmermans (; born 6 May 1961) is a Dutch politician who served as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for the European Green Deal and European Commissioner for Climate Action in the von der ...

. At the

2016 United Nations Security Council election The 2016 United Nations Security Council election was held on 28 June during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The elections were for five non-permanent seats on the ...

, Koenders and his Italian counterpart

Paolo Gentiloni Paolo Gentiloni Silveri (; born 22 November 1954) is an Italian politician who was European Commissioner for Economy in the von der Leyen Commission from 1 December 2019 to 30 November 2024. He had previously served as prime minister of Italy ...

agreed on splitting a two-year term on the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

after the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

was deadlocked on whether to choose Italy or the Netherlands following five rounds of voting for the last remaining 2017/18 seat. In December 2016, Koenders summoned Sadık Arslan,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

's ambassador in the Netherlands, after the ''

De Telegraaf ''De Telegraaf'' (; ) is the largest Netherlands, Dutch daily morning newspaper. Haro Kraak,Gaat Paul Jansen de crisis bij De Telegraaf oplossen?, ''de Volkskrant'', 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015. Paul Jansen has been the editor-in-chief since ...

'' newspaper reported that the Turkish embassy had sent home a list of Dutch Turks who might have sympathized with the failed coup.

Other activities

(ICG), Board of Trustees (since 2018) *

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...

(AfDB), Ex-Officio Alternate Member of the Board of Governors (2007-2010)2007 Annual Report

(AfDB).

Decorations

Notes

References

External links

;Official *
Drs. A.G. (Bert) Koenders
Parlement & Politiek , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Koenders, Bert 1958 births Living people Knights of the Legion of Honour Academic staff of Leiden University Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch political consultants Dutch officials of the United Nations Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Johns Hopkins University faculty Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Dutch MPs 2006–2010 Ministers for development cooperation of the Netherlands Ministers of foreign affairs of the Netherlands Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni Politicians from Amsterdam Politicians from Arnhem Recipients of the Order of the Volta Reformed Churches Christians from the Netherlands Special Representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations University of Amsterdam alumni Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni Webster University faculty 20th-century Dutch diplomats 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch diplomats