A new arrival to international Geneva, Rebeca Grynspan recently granted an interview published in UN Today.
As head of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), she gives insights into her vision of trade and development in a world facing the triple crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and socioeconomic fallout.
“Is what we’re calling ‘development’ truly development?” she asks. Because of the pandemic, many developing countries have lost years' or decades' worth of progress in the fight against inequalities and poverty in a single year.
She elaborates on this and other points, as well as on making headway in global solutions.
While not new to Geneva, Ms. Grynspan has taken on the role of head of UNCTAD with relish, taking full advantage of her recognized credentials as an economist and experience in government and international development.
How else could she jump almost immediately into a ministerial-level conference and steer it to a successful outcome?
She also makes a point of active listening.
A long-time advocate of human development, gender equality, and reduction of inequality and poverty, Ms. Grynspan is the first woman to lead the institution.
