Secretary-General Appoints Sonja Leighton-Kone of United States Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Office for Project Services

United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, announced today the appointment of Sonja Leighton-Kone of the United States as Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).

Ms. Leighton-Kone has more than 30 years of experience in international development overseeing operations in complex environments, including emerging and fragile States.  Since 2018, she has held the role of Director of the Corporate Services Division at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya.  Additionally, in 2022, she assumed the role of Acting Deputy Executive Director and has led the Organization’s strategic engagement with Member States, United Nations agencies and partners during the United Nations Environmental Assembly, as well as overseeing global environmental financing mechanisms, resource mobilization, financial and human resource management.

Ms. Leighton-Kone began her United Nations career with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan in 1999 and subsequently held a series of senior positions at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), including as Regional Chief of Operations in Jordan, Chief of Operations in Ethiopia, Senior Operations Officer in South Sudan and Operations Officer in Myanmar.  During her 24 years in the United Nations system, she has participated in several management reforms.

Ms. Leighton-Kone holds a master’s in business administration from Fordham Graduate Business School in the United States, and a bachelor’s in management science from the University of the West Indies in Jamaica.