Secretary-General appoints Ms. Ana Graça of Portugal as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Panama

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Ana Graça of Portugal as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Panama, with the host Government’s approval. She took up her post on 7 November.

Ms. Ana Graça of Portugal has been working with the United Nations for the past 20 years, in different capacities and regions. She recently served as United Nations Resident Coordinator in Cape Verde, responsible for the strategic leadership of the UN Country Team in this small island development state. 

Prior to that, Ana Graça worked as Team Leader and Global Advisor for UNDP on Rule of Law, Justice and Human Rights in UNDP, New York. She also worked as UNDP Regional Advisor on Governance and Crisis Prevention in Asia Pacific, based in Bangkok covering countries like Myanmar, Nepal, Afghanistan amongst others in the region. Before that, she oversaw several governance and rule of law Programmes in Guinea Bissau, Angola, Timor-Leste and served as acting UN Advisor at the service of different funds and programmes in several other countries in Africa and Asia.

Before joining the United Nations in 2001, she was a lawyer with the private sector and non-government organizations in Portugal. 

Ana Graça holds a master’s degree in European Law and a degree in Law (international law specialization) from Lisbon University (Universidade Classica de Lisboa).