Justin Forsyth is a British non-profit executive who served as the deputy executive director of

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 ...

from 2016 to 2018. Prior to this appointment on 15 January 2016 by

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 ...

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 ...

, Forsyth was the chief executive officer of

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

Early life and education

Forsyth was born in June 1965. He earned a bachelor's degree in history and politics from

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (OBU; formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Th ...

Career

Forsyth has been involved in advocacy campaigns, fundraising and coalitions which have collaborated with non-governmental organizations, the private sector, national governments and the

. Forsyth was employed by

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

from 1989 to 2004. While at Oxfam, he was employed alongside Kevin Watkins, who subsequently succeeded Forsyth as CEO of Save the Children. Between 2004 and 2010, as special adviser to

Prime Ministers A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but rat ...

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

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

, he helped shape global efforts on development, climate change and humanitarian policies, including leading successful efforts around the G8 and the G20. Forsyth served as an advisor to Prime Minister

, and acted as director of strategic communication at

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

from 2007 to 2010. While campaigning, Brown voiced his irritation to Forsyth following a conversation with a voter, calling her "a bigoted woman." Brown had forgotten that he was still wearing a microphone once he had got into his car, and the conversation was captured on a

hot mic A hot mic, sometimes referred to as an open microphone or (in aviation) a stuck mic, is in general an apparent error in which a microphone is switched on or remains on, especially without the speaker realizing. A special case of hot mic is the ...

. The controversy later became known as Bigotgate. Forsyth was CEO of Save the Children from 2010 to 2016. In January 2016 UNICEF announced Forsyth's appointment as deputy executive director. In February 2018, it emerged that three female workers had accused Forsyth of inappropriate behaviour, texts, and emails before he left Save the Children; Forsyth said he had "apologised unreservedly" to them for his "unsuitable and thoughtless conversations".

later said that when Forsyth had joined it in 2016, Save the Children's reference for him had not mentioned the allegations and that it was "continuing to work with him and Save the Children to get a better understanding of the facts". Forsyth resigned from UNICEF on 22 February 2018, wishing to avoid "serious damage to our cause and the case for aid" that might result from his continued affiliation. After resigning from UNICEF, Forsyth founded North End Strategy, a communications and management consulting firm based in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forsyth, Justin UNICEF people British officials of the United Nations Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 1965 births Alumni of Oxford Brookes University