Former PSD leader candidate Jorge Moreira da Silva assured this Thursday that he will be “totally focused” on the United Nations post to which he has been appointed in the coming years.
“It is with pleasure and a sense of responsibility that I welcome the decision announced today by the Secretary General of the United Nations to appoint me, following an international public competition, as Executive Director of UNOPS (United Nations Infrastructure and Project Management Agency) and Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations (Deputy Secretary General),” – the statement of the former vice-president of the SDP says.
According to Moreira da Silva, it was a “competitive process” in which he participated individually.
“In the coming years, I will be fully focused on this mission of leading the local construction and management of the necessary infrastructure for sustainable development, security and peace, as well as combating inequality and climate change,” he assured.
Last April, the former SDP leader announced his resignation as director of development cooperation at the OECD, a position he had held since 2016 to run for the leadership of the SDP, a position he ran and lost to Luis Montenegro at the end of May .
Jorge Moreira da Silva is a visiting professor at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto (FEUP), a visiting professor at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris (Sciences Po), and senior adviser to the North American non-governmental organization Fourth Sector Group. He is also President of the Platform for Sustainable Growth (PCS) think tank, which he founded in 2011.
The announcement of the name of Jorge Moreira da Silva, who will replace Dane Jens Wandel, was announced by UN Secretary General António Guterres.
Prior to joining the OECD, Moreira da Silva, who holds a degree in Electrical Engineering (Energy Field), was Minister of the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy from 2013 to 2015, and from 2003 to 2005 he was Secretary of State for Science and Higher Education and Public Secretary for Environment and Spatial Planning, and Member of Parliament and European MP.
UNOPS is the operational entity of the United Nations whose mission is to help diverse partners implement humanitarian, development and peacebuilding projects in the world’s most challenging environments through sustainable practices.