United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Michelle Muschett of Panama as Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Ms. Muschett succeeds Luis Felipe López Calva of Mexico to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service and commitment.
Ms. Muschett is a social policy and global development specialist with multisectoral experience in leadership positions. She is currently serving as Senior Public Policy Adviser and Executive Education Director for Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, advising governments and policymakers from Africa, Asia and Latin America in their efforts to address multidimensional poverty. She is also Senior Policy and Strategy Adviser for the Fourth Sector Group, providing guidance in mobilizing collective leadership and action for scaling business models and in leveraging development finance to accelerate the transition towards more inclusive, sustainable and resilient economic systems globally.
In the public sector, Ms. Muschett held the position of Deputy Minister and Minister of Social Development of Panama. During her tenure, she led the process of developing the first national Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI); the creation of the first Childhood MPI in the Latin American region; and the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals at the national level through civic participation and strategic partnerships. She also chaired the National Concertation Council for Development, a legally-established dialogue space aimed at building consensus among multiple sectors of society around national development priorities.
Ms. Muschett holds master’s degrees in Public Administration from Cornell University, United States; Commercial Law from Externado University of Colombia, Colombia; and Management of Heritage and Cultural Projects from the Institute for Art and Restoration Palazzo Spinelli, Italy. She speaks Spanish, English and Italian.
