In December 2013, Shamshad Akhtar was
appointed by the UN Secretary-General as
United Nations Under-Secretary-General and
the tenth Executive Secretary of the
Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific (ESCAP). She also serves as
UN Sherpa for the G20.
Previously the Secretary-General’s Senior
Advisor on Economics and Finance, as well
as Assistant Secretary-General for Economic
Development, she led the UN-wide
coordination of the post-2015 development
agenda and related policy and normative
work, including supporting work on the
Sustainable Financing Strategy.
She served as Governor of the Central Bank
of Pakistan from 2006 to 2009; Vice
President of the World Bank’s Middle East
and North Africa Region; and held a range of
senior posts in the Asian Development Bank,
including that of Director-General (South-
East Asia region).
Ms. Akhtar was a post-doctoral US Fulbright
Fellow at Harvard Universit y, holds a PhD in
Economics from the Paisley College of
Technology, a Master in Development
Economics from the University of Sussex,
and an MSc in Economics from Quaid-i-Azam
University.