Former Cabinet Secretary of Foreign Affairs Monica Juma has been appointed Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna.
In the March 7 announcement, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said Juma will succeed Ghada Fathi Waly, whose service to the organization he commended.
“United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Monica Kathina Juma of Kenya as Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as well as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV),” read the announcement.
The Secretary-General also expressed appreciation to John Brandolino, who will continue serving as Acting Executive Director of UNODC and Acting Director-General of UNOV until Juma formally assumes the role.
Role and Functions
The former CS, as an Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, will report to António Guterres and oversee the organization’s operations, administration, and global programmes on drug control and crime prevention.
Her role will include coordinating United Nations efforts to combat drugs and crime while ensuring collaboration across the UN system.
She will also represent the Secretary-General at international meetings and oversee the implementation of responsibilities arising from international treaties and UN resolutions on drug control and crime prevention.
As Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna, the office holder also reports to the Secretary-General and oversees all UN activities based in Vienna.
The role involves representing the United Nations to the Austrian government and diplomatic missions while overseeing UN programmes, including those related to the peaceful uses of outer space.
It also includes supervising administrative and conference services, managing UN facilities in Vienna, and directing the work of the United Nations Information Service in Vienna.
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Monica Juma Profile
Monica Juma has held several senior government positions in Kenya. She served as Cabinet Secretary for Energy from 2021 to 2022 and as CS for Defence from 2020 to 2021.
In 2022, she also briefly served as Acting Cabinet Secretary for Petroleum and Mining.
Earlier in her career, she served as Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2018, in the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government from 2014 to 2016, and in the Ministry of Defence from 2013 to 2014.
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Juma also represented Kenya internationally as Ambassador to Ethiopia and Djibouti and as Permanent Representative to the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa from 2010 to 2013.
She has served as Executive Director of the Africa Institute of South Africa from 2008 to 2010 and Executive Director of the Africa Policy Institute from 2006 to 2008.
Since 2002, she has served as an Adjunct Faculty Member at the African Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University in Washington, DC.
Juma earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Oxford between 1998 and 2000.
She also holds a Master of Arts degree, obtained in 1991, and a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Public Administration, obtained in 1987, from the University of Nairobi.
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