High Representative for UNOHRLLS welcomes the new Managing Director for the LDCs Technology Bank

The Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, Ms. Rabab Fatima, extends her warmest congratulations to Mr. Deodat Maharaj of Trinidad and Tobago on his appointment as the Managing Director of the United Nations Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries (LDCs). As the United Nations Secretary-General’s representative on the council of the Technology Bank, High Representative Fatima looks forward to working closely with him to enhance the role of science, technology, and innovation in accelerating the implementation of SDGs in the LDCs. 

Mr. Maharaj succeeds Mr. Taffere Tesfachew of United Kingdom, to whom USG Fatima is grateful for his dedication and service. 

Mr. Maharaj has 25 years of international leadership experience. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Executive Director at the Caribbean Export Development Agency in Barbados. He also served as Deputy Secretary General, Economic and Social Development at the Commonwealth (2014-2017) and held multiple senior positions at UNDP (1992- 2017).

The United Nations General Assembly resolution 71/251 established the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries and adopted its Charter on 23 December 2016. The Technology Bank was established to strengthen the science, technology and innovation capacities of the least developed countries. The Doha Programme of Action (DPoA), adopted in 2022, has declared the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries “a focal point for least developed countries to strengthen their science, technology and innovation capacity towards building sustainable productive capacities and promoting structural economic transformation”.