United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Alexander De Croo of Belgium as the new Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. Today's announcement comes after the General Assembly confirmed Mr. De Croo to the four-year term as head of the UN development agency.
The Secretary-General expressed his gratitude to Mr. De Croo's predecessor, Achim Steiner of Germany, for his leadership and commitment to the Organization.
The Secretary-General also extended his appreciation to Haoliang Xu, Under Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of UNDP, who will continue to serve as Acting Administrator until Mr. De Croo assumes his position.
Alexander De Croo served as Prime Minister of Belgium from 2020 to 2025. His tenure included crisis management during the COVID-19 pandemic, the coordination of Belgium's vaccination rollout and economic recovery strategies, and Belgium's presidency of the Council of the European Union during a period of considerable geopolitical strain.
Before becoming Prime Minister, De Croo served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2012 to 2020, as Minister of Development Cooperation and Digital Agenda from 2014 to 2020 and as Minister of Finance from 2018 to 2020. A steadfast advocate for strong international cooperation, he played a leading role in advancing international development, championed gender equality and digital innovation as drivers of progress, and actively supported humanitarian relief efforts in times of crisis.
Before entering public life, Mr. De Croo worked in the private sector as an entrepreneur and strategy advisor.
Mr. De Croo holds a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago and a degree in business engineering from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management. He is fluent in English, French, and Dutch.
