Secretary-General Appoints Ana Graça of Portugal United Nations Resident Coordinator in Panama

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Ana Graça of Portugal as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Panama, with the host Government’s approval.  She took up her post on 7 November.

Ms. Graça has been working with the United Nations for the past 20 years in different capacities and regions.  She recently served as United Nations Resident Coordinator in Cape Verde, responsible for the strategic leadership of the United Nations country team.

Prior to that, she worked as Team Leader and Global Adviser for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Rule of Law, Justice and Human Rights in New York.  She also worked as UNDP Regional Adviser on Governance and Crisis Prevention in Asia Pacific, based in Bangkok covering countries like Myanmar, Nepal and Afghanistan, amongst others in the region.

Before that, she oversaw several governance and rule of law programmes in Guinea Bissau, Angola and Timor-Leste, and served as acting United Nations Adviser at the service of different funds and programmes in several other countries in Africa and Asia.  Before joining the United Nations in 2001, she was a lawyer with the private sector and non-government organizations in Portugal.

Ms. Graça holds a master’s degree in European law and a degree in law (international law specialization) from Universidade Classica de Lisboa, Portugal.