Secretary‑General appoints Christine Weigand of Austria as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Iran

United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres appointed Christine Weigand of Austria as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Iran, with the host Government’s approval. Her appointment is effective as of 1 February.

Ms Weigand brings extensive experience in development cooperation to the position, with a strong track record in providing strategic senior leadership in complex development settings, strengthening high‑level partnerships, and advancing integrated, mandate‑driven initiatives at the country level. She most recently served as Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Armenia, providing strategic leadership at the country level, strengthening high‑level policy dialogue and partnerships, and supporting nationally led development priorities through coordinated engagements. She also worked as UNICEF Representative in Turkmenistan, where she led the design and implementation of the UNICEF country programme and broadened national and international partnerships. During this period, she served as United Nations Resident Coordinator ad interim in Turkmenistan from 2020 to 2021, providing overall leadership and coordination to the United Nations Country Team. She took on other leadership positions, including UNICEF Deputy Representative in Iran and Chief of Social Policy and Evaluation at UNICEF Madagascar.

Before joining the Organization, she worked as Sector Economist for Social Protection and Project Manager at KfW Entwicklungsbank, the German development bank, from 2008 to 2011, where she engaged with all stakeholders of German bilateral development cooperation, including the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and Members of the German Parliament. She managed an extensive project portfolio in education, HIV/AIDS and social protection in Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Earlier in her career, Ms Weigand served as part of a global expert team on social protection, providing technical support on social safety net programmes and public expenditure reviews in the social sectors at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., USA.

Ms. Weigand holds a master’s degree in international economic studies from Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

She is fluent in English, French, Spanish and German.