Ibrahim Thiaw is a Mauritanian public servant who served as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) from 2019 to 2025. [1] [2]
Ibrahim Thiaw is a Mauritanian public servant who served as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) from 2019 to 2025. [1] [2]
Born in 1957 in Tékane, Mauritania, Thiaw holds an advanced degree in forestry and forest product techniques. [3]
Thiaw worked in his country's Ministry of Rural Development for 10 years before joining the World Conservation Union (IUCN), where he served ten years holding different positions. [4]
Thiaw joined the United Nations in 2007 as Director of the Division of Environmental Policy Implementation (DEPI) at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). [5] From 2013 to 2018, he was Deputy Executive Director of UNEP at the level of Assistant Secretary-General, under the leadership of successive Executive Directors Achim Steiner and Erik Solheim. He was appointed to this position by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 2 August 2013. [6] In this capacity, he played a key role in shaping the organization's strategic vision, mid-term strategy and programme of work, and strengthened collaborations with Governments and other environmental governing bodies, including the United Nations Environmental Assembly. [7]
Thiaw also served the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as its interim head after Patricia Espinosa stepped down, and started his term on 17 July 2022. [8] He was succeeded in this position by Simon Stiell on 15 August that same year. [9]
Thiaw is married and has three children.