Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has been appointed Chair of UN-Water by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, António Guterres.
The new Chair will lead UN-Water, the inter-agency coordination mechanism for the UN’s work on all freshwater related issues, in facilitating synergies to accelerate progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water and sanitation.
Under Mr. Lario, UN-Water will assist the UN Secretary-General in responding to resolution A/RES/77/334 that requests a UN system-wide water and sanitation strategy be presented in consultation with Member States before the end of the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly.
An established leader in international development, Mr. Lario has more than 20 years’ experience across academia, private sector asset management, World Bank Group and the UN, including as Associate Vice-President of Financial Operations at IFAD.
Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has been appointed Chair of UN-Water
IFAD is a specialized global development agency of the UN exclusively focused on and dedicated to transforming agriculture, rural economies and food systems.
Under his stewardship, IFAD became the first UN fund to enter the capital markets and obtain a credit rating, enabling IFAD to expand resource mobilization efforts to the private sector.
Mr. Lario succeeds Gilbert F. Houngbo, Director-General of the International Labour Organization. Mr. Houngbo was thanked by the UN chief for his outstanding leadership and strong personal commitment to promoting impactful collaboration across the UN system on water and sanitation issues, and for establishing the Sustainable Development Goal 6 Global Acceleration Framework as a unifying system-wide initiative.
