Gerritje "Gerda" Verburg (born 19 August 1957) is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( , CDA) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands. Formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and the Christian Historical ...

(CDA) party and trade union leader From 2011 until 2016, Verburg served as Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

organizations for Food and Agriculture in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

(

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...

, IFAD and WFP) succeeding former CDA politician Agnes van Ardenne. As a member of the

(Christen-Democratisch Appèl), she was an MP from 1998 to 2007 and again from 2010 to 2011. She also served as Minister of Agriculture 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 ...

from 2007 to 2010. As an MP, she focused on matters of social affairs, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

and

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or service (economics), services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a n ...

policy.

Early life and education

Born in a family of farmers, Verburg attended mavo and havo at Protestant schools in Bodegraven and

Alphen aan den Rijn Alphen aan den Rijn (; or "Alphen on the Rhine") is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The city is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland), Oude Rijn (Old Rhine ...

. After completing her secondary education, she studied personnel work and labour relations at IJsselpoort Protestant School of Social Work in Kampen from 1976 to 1980.

Career

Early career

Verburg began to work for Christian Rural Youth as general-secretary. In 1982 she began to work for the National Federation of Christian Trade Unions in the Netherlands. Between 1982 and 1986 as youth worker of the construction trade union and between 1986 and 1990 as chair of the CNV youth labour union. Between 1990 and 1997 she was on the union's board and she represented the union in the

Social Economic Council The Social and Economic Council (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Sociaal-Economische Raad'', SER) is a major economic advisory council to the cabinet of the Netherlands. Formally it heads a Publiekrechtelijke Bedrijfsorganisatie, system of sector-based ...

and the

European Trade Union Confederation The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is the major trade union organisation representing workers at the European level. In its role as a European social partner, the ETUC works both in a consulting role with the European Commission and ...

(ETUC). Between 1997 and 1998 Verburg worked as a businesswoman in communication and projects. She has also been a member of the

Social and Economic Council The Social and Economic Council (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Sociaal-Economische Raad'', SER) is a major economic advisory council to the cabinet of the Netherlands. Formally it heads a Publiekrechtelijke Bedrijfsorganisatie, system of sector-based ...

and the Labour Foundation. She has served on the executive committee of the European Trade Union Confederation, and on the boards of the Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation, the Royal Dutch Equestrian Sports Federation (KNHS) and ''Stichting Geuzenverzet''.

Political career

In Dutch general election of 1998, Verburg was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives for the

. She was one of the few

members who voted in favour of the legalisation of same-sex marriages. In 2003 Verburg was candidate for President for the House of Representatives, but she was defeated by

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

candidate

Frans Weisglas Frans Willy Weisglas (born 8 August 1946) is a retired Dutch politician, diplomat and economist. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 16 May 2002 until 30 Nove ...

. Verburg was from 2003 Vice- Chair of the Parliamentary Party in

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 ...

. She was the chair of the

commission on social affairs. From 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010 Verburg was Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in the Cabinet Balkenende IV, and the first openly

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

Minister of Christian Democratic signature in a Dutch Cabinet. On 17 June 2010 she returned to the House of Representatives until 30 June 2011.

Roles in the United Nations

From 1 July 2011, Verburg served as the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the

organizations for Food and Agriculture in

(

, IFAD and WFP) succeeding former CDA politician Agnes van Ardenne. In this capacity, she chaired the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS) between 2013 and 2015. In 2014, Verburg was appointed Chair of the Global Agenda Council for Food and Nutrition Security of the

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). In March 2016, Verburg was appointed by

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 ...

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 ...

as Coordinator of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, an office she held until 2022. Later that year, Ban also appointed her to serve as member of the Lead Group of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement. In 2020, Verburg was appointed by

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 serve on the Advisory Committee for the 2021 Food Systems Summit, chaired by Inger Andersen.

, press release of June 29, 2020.

Personal life

Verburg is openly

and lives with her partner Willy Westerlaken in

Woerden Woerden () is a city and a municipality in central Netherlands. Due to its central location between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht, and the fact that it has rail and road connections to those cities, it is a popular town for commu ...

, whom she married in 2012.

Decorations

References

External links

*
G. (Gerda) Verburg
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Verburg, Gerda 1957 births Living people Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Dutch expatriates in Italy Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch officials of the United Nations Dutch trade union leaders Dutch women diplomats Dutch lesbian politicians 21st-century Dutch diplomats Food and Agriculture Organization officials International Fund for Agricultural Development people Lesbian diplomats 21st-century women civil servants LGBTQ cabinet members of the Netherlands LGBTQ Calvinist and Reformed Christians LGBTQ conservatism LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the Netherlands Dutch MPs 2010–2012 Dutch MPs 2006–2010 Ministers of agriculture of the Netherlands Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau People from Alphen aan den Rijn People from Woerden Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands Representatives of the Netherlands to the Food and Agriculture Organization Women government ministers of the Netherlands World Food Programme people 20th-century Dutch women politicians 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch women politicians Dutch women ambassadors Christian Democratic Appeal MPs