Catherine Bertini of the United States was appointed by the Secretary-General as Under-Secretary-General for Management on January 1, 2003. Ms. Bertini is responsible for all administrative and managerial matters in the United Nations in New York and worldwide, including the leadership and management of UN senior officials dealing with budget, finance, and human resources. She is charged with implementing the Secretary-General’s reform initiatives including in particular issues relating to the improvement of the status of women in the United Nations. Currently, she also chairs the United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition.

Prior to joining the United Nations Secretariat, Ms. Bertini was for ten years Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme, the largest global food agency in the world. While serving as Director, Ms. Bertini made significant achievements in the dual mandate of the agency: to avert starvation in humanitarian crises through emergency operations and to promote long-term development projects aimed at breaking the deeply rooted hunger-poverty cycle. Ms. Bertini is the recipient of the 2003 World Food Prize for her critical leadership of the United Nations World Food Programme.

Before her work with the World Food Programme, Ms. Bertini worked in the United States Government. She was Assistant Secretary for Food and Consumer Services in the Department of Agriculture and Acting Assistant Secretary of the Family Support Administration in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

She graduated from State University of New York at Albany and was a fellow of the Institute of Politics in the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She has received honorary doctorates from the State University of New York, McGill University in Montreal, and Pine Manor College in Boston.  . . . short bio

Catherine Bertini of the United States was appointed by the Secretary-General as Under-Secretary-General for Management on January 1, 2003. Ms. Bertini is responsible for all administrative and managerial matters in the United Nations in New York and worldwide, including the leadership and management of UN senior officials dealing with budget, finance, and human resources. She is charged with implementing the Secretary-General’s reform initiatives including in particular issues relating to the improvement of the status of women in the United Nations . . . full bio