Moderator: Mirjana Spoljaric Egger

Ms Mirjana Spoljaric Egger is Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, Assistant Administrator of UNDP, and Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS. She was appointed to this position by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in August 2018 and assumed her duties in October 2018.

Ms Spoljaric previously had many years of distinguished service with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Most recently she served as Ambassador, Head of the United Nations and International Organisations Division, where she was instrumental in shaping coherent Swiss UN policies and priorities in support of the achievement of the 2030 Agenda, representing Switzerland in multilateral processes, and had responsibility for International Geneva and Switzerland’s host country policy and representing Switzerland in the Geneva Group.

Prior to this Ms Spoljaric had several assignments in the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Berne and New York. She coordinated and ensured good offices in the context of EU-led Iran and UN-led Syria Talks and represented Switzerland in negotiations on UN reforms and budget, at the Security Council, General Assembly, ECOSOC, Peacebuilding Commission, Human Rights Council, and UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

From 2010-2012 Ms Spoljaric was seconded to the Office of the Commissioner-General on the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Amman as Senior Adviser covering organizational development, management reforms, coordination of an agency-wide partnership strategy, and comprehensive health, education, relief and social services programs reviews.

Earlier in her career Ms Spoljaric worked in the Embassy of Switzerland in Cairo, Egypt, and was Desk Officer for the EBRD and Nuclear Safety in Central and Eastern Europe.

Ms Spoljaric holds a Master’s Degree in Philosophy, Economics and International Law from the University of Basel and the University of Geneva and has lectured in Global Governance at the University of Lucerne. She speaks fluent German, English, French and Croatian.

She is married and has two children.