António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has appointed Gita Sabharwal, an Indian development expert with close to 30 years of experience, as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Indonesia. Sabharwal, who assumed her role on Monday, has experience in supporting climate transition, sustainable peace, governance and social policy, and has leveraged digital technology and data to accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Her appointment has been approved by the Indonesian government. In a post on social media platform X, Sabharwal expressed her honour to serve as the Resident Coordinator in Indonesia and support the government and people of the country, alongside 26 UN agencies, in one of the region’s largest economies.
Prior to her current position, Sabharwal served as the UN Resident Coordinator in Thailand and as a peacebuilding and development adviser for the United Nations in Sri Lanka. She has also held several positions including deputy country representative for the Maldives and Sri Lanka at The Asia Foundation, and poverty and policy adviser for the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development in India and Vietnam.
Sabharwal holds a master’s degree in development management from the University of Wales in the UK. The UN Resident Coordinator is the highest-ranking representative of the UN Development System at the country level. He or she leads UN country teams and coordinates UN support to countries in implementing the 2030 Agenda
. The Resident Coordinator is designated as the representative of the UN Secretary-General and reports to him or her. According to the UN, the key duties and responsibilities of resident coordinators include representing the United Nations at the highest levels of the state, fostering engagement with the government, civil society, bilateral and multilateral partners, academia, and the private sector. This is to help address the country’s needs, priorities, and challenges in fulfilling the SDGs.
