GWI-YEOP SON

Ms. Son brings over 30 years of experience in international development with the United Nations. Prior to assuming the Regional Director post in Istanbul, she served as the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan. During this period, she supported the transition from a 30-year dictatorship to a people-led democracy and the transition from humanitarian-centered UN action to peace building focused and SDG-centered sustainable development.

She joined the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1994 and has since served in Somalia, Lao PDR, Timor-Leste during the pre-independence period, Indonesia during the first democratic elections and the 2004 Tsunami and in Thailand. She also served in New York, as UNDP’s Programme Adviser on Afghanistan. Ms. Son was later appointed as the Director of Corporate Programmes at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In this role, she was responsible for organizing the World Humanitarian Summit and overseeing work on communications, information services, policy development, and humanitarian financing, including the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the country-based pooled funds.

Ms. Son holds a MPA degree from the Columbia University in New York.