Sharon Alida Maria Dijksma (born 16 April 1971) is a Dutch politician serving as Mayor of Utrecht since 2020. A member of the Labour Party (PvdA), she was previously a State Secretary at the

Ministry of Education, Culture and Science The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (; OCW) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for education, culture, science, research, gender equality and communications. The Ministry was created in 1918 as the Ministry of Education, Arts and Sci ...

from 2007 to 2010, at the Ministry of Economic Affairs from 2012 to 2015 and at the

Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (; I&W) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for transport, aviation, public works, land management and water resource management. The Ministry was created in 2010 as the Ministry of Infrastructur ...

from 2015 to 2017, as well as an alderwoman of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

from 2018 until 2020. Dijksma was the President of the

Environment Council The Environment Council (ENVI) is a configuration of the Council of the European Union. It meets about four times a year. It brings together the environment ministers and is responsible for the EU environment policy. This Council deals with env ...

of 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 ...

who, together with the

Vice-President of the European Commission A Vice-President of the European Commission is a member of the European Commission who leads the commission's work in particular focus areas in which multiple European Commissioners participate. Currently, the European Commission has a total of ...

Maroš Šefčovič Maroš Šefčovič (; born 24 July 1966) is a Slovak diplomat and politician serving as European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security; Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency (2024–2029) in the Von der Leyen Commission II. Prior t ...

, signed the

Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...

on behalf of Europe in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

on 21 April 2016.

Early life and education

Dijksma's father died in an accident, when she was ten years old. Dijksma studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

and

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

at the

University of Twente The University of Twente ( ; Abbreviation, abbr. ) is a Public university, public technical university located in Enschede, Netherlands. The university has been placed in the top 170 universities in the world by multiple central ranking tables. ...

but did not finish her studies.

Career

In 1991 Dijksma became secretary general of the Young Socialists. From 1992 to 1994 she was chairwoman of the Young Socialists (''Jonge Socialisten''). When, on 16 May 1994, Dijksma became an MP, her age was 23 and she was the youngest MP ever in Dutch parliamentarian history. From 1994 to 2007, she 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 ...

. Dijksma was the State secretary for Education, Culture and Science 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. From 3 November 2015 until 26 October 2017 Dijksma was the State secretary of the

succeeding to

Wilma Mansveld Wilma Jacqueline Mansveld (born 11 September 1962) is a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). She served as Undersecretary for Infrastructure and Environment, dealing with water policy, environment and aviation in the Second Rutte cabin ...

who resigned from the position; from 18 December 2012 to 3 November 2015 she was the State secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, dealing with agriculture, nature, food quality, tourism, and postal affairs. Therefore, Dijksma was allowed to use the ministerial title "Minister for Agriculture" while on foreign business. Before that she was an MP from 17 June 2010 to 19 September 2012. She focused on matters of

traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

water management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either freshwater from natural sources, or water produced artificia ...

and

home affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a Ministry (government department), government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law e ...

. Dijksma was a member of the

from 23 March 2017 until 30 May 2018. In 2023,

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 ...

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), ...

appointed Dijksma to his Advisory Group on Local and Regional Governments.Local and Regional Engagement, Action and Multi-Level Cooperation Are Vital to Rescue SDGs and Contribute to Topics under the Summit of Future
�

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 ...

, press release of 6 October 2023.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
S.A.M. (Sharon) Dijksma
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Dijksma, Sharon 1971 births Living people 20th-century Dutch politicians 20th-century Dutch women politicians 21st-century Dutch women politicians Aldermen of Amsterdam Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Mayors of Utrecht Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Dutch MPs 2017–2021 Dutch MPs 2006–2010 Dutch MPs 2010–2012 Politicians from Groningen (city) State Secretaries for Economic Affairs of the Netherlands State Secretaries for Education of the Netherlands State Secretaries for Infrastructure of the Netherlands