New UNDP Head Takes Up Appointment & Will Undertake Official Mission to Saint Kitts and Nevis
9 September 2019, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis – Mr. Magdy Martinez-Soliman has been appointed as Resident Representative for the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Multi-country Office for Barbados and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), with full responsibilities over the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Mr. Martinez-Soliman has a solid track record of accomplishments and vast experience in development, including a recent posting in the Caribbean where he served as UNDP Resident Representative a.i. in Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. Until recently and for the past years, Mr. Martinez-Soliman was Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Policy Chief of UNDP. Prior to that, he held different positions at the UN and UNDP Headquarters in New York and, has served as UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Mexico (2007-2012) and as a Senior UN Official in Senegal, West Africa and Bangladesh, South Asia.
Prior to his career in the UN, Mr. Martinez Soliman served as Secretary of State for Youth in the Spanish Government, and later Vice Minister of the Presidency in charge of Relations with Parliament. He was a member of the Organizing Committee for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, lectured on International Law at the Law School of Malaga University, his alma mater, and was elected City Councilor of Malaga.
Mr. Martinez-Soliman is scheduled to present Letters of Credence to the Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Honourable Timothy Harris, on September 17 and will thereafter meet with key officials including, His Excellency the Governor-General, Sir S. W. Tapley Seaton; Minister of the Environment, the Hon. Eugene Hamilton and Minister of Community and Social Development, the Hon. Wendy Phipps.
While on official mission to Saint Kitts, Mr. Martinez-Soliman will also visit the island of Nevis, to meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Premier of Nevis, the Hon. Mark Brantley and, pay a visit to the site at the Camps River Watershed where UNDP’s work within the Conserving Biodiversity Project continues.
Mr. Martinez-Soliman, who will be joined by his also recently appointed Deputy Resident Representative – Mr. Ugo Blanco, has accepted an invitation to join celebrations for the 36th anniversary of the independence of Saint Kitts and Nevis.