India's Gita Sabharwal appointed as UN resident coordinator in Indonesia

United Nations: UN Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Gita Sabharwal of India as the United Nations resident coordinator in Indonesia.

Sabharwal, who took up her post on Monday, brings close to 30 years of experience in development supporting climate transition, sustainable peace, governance and social policy, while leveraging digital technology and data to accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN said in a statement.

Sabharwal has been appointed as the UN resident coordinator in Indonesia with the host government's approval, it said.

"Just landed in Jakarta! Very honoured as I look forward to serve, as @UN Resident Coordinator (designate), the govt and people of #Indonesia through @UNinIndonesia, together with 26 UN agencies in one of the region's largest economies, in support of #SDGs," Sabharwal said in a post on X.

Previously, Sabharwal served as the UN resident coordinator in Thailand and as peacebuilding and development adviser for the United Nations in Sri Lanka.

Before joining the UN, Sabharwal was The Asia Foundation's deputy country representative for the Maldives and Sri Lanka and held positions as the poverty and policy adviser for the United Kingdom's Department for International Development in India and Vietnam.

Sabharwal holds a master's degree in development management from the University of Wales in the UK.

The UN resident coordinator is the highest-ranking representative of the UN Development System at the country level. Resident coordinators lead UN country teams and coordinate UN support to countries in implementing the 2030 Agenda. The resident coordinator is the designated representative of -- and reports to -- the UN secretary-general, according to the world body.

Key duties and responsibilities of resident coordinators include representing the United Nations at the highest levels of State and, together with the relevant agency representatives, fostering engagement with the government, civil society, bilateral and multilateral partners, academia and the private sector in order for the UN development system to help address the country's needs, priorities and challenges to fulfil the SDGs, the world body said.