Belgium’s former Prime Minister Alexander De Croo is set to become the next head of the United Nations Development Programme.
De Croo, of the Flemish liberal Open VLD party, will succeed current UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner and will also serve as undersecretary-general, working closely with U.N. chief António Guterres.
According to reports, De Croo’s nomination followed weeks of deliberations after the selection panel failed to reach a consensus, prompting Guterres to make the final call. The U.N. General Assembly is expected to confirm the appointment in the coming days, a step widely seen as a formality.
“It’s a great appointment, it’s also a great honor for Belgium,” Peter Piot, until now the first and only Belgian to have served as a U.N. undersecretary-general, told De Morgen. “UNDP is the most important organization of the U.N. when it comes to general development. There has really been a huge competition for that position, countries are lobbying very hard for it,” he added.
The UNDP administrator is the third-highest position in the U.N. hierarchy after the secretary-general and deputy secretary-general. It is also the highest post outside the U.N. Secretariat and serves as vice chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, which coordinates all U.N. agencies operating in the field.
De Croo’s move means he will resign his seat in the Belgian parliament, where he was elected last year, according to Flemish public broadcaster VRT.
He will be replaced by Sandro Di Nunzio, currently deputy mayor of Lochristi in East Flanders. In Brakel, where De Croo serves as mayor, Marleen Gyselinck will step in as acting mayor.
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