Jamaican gets top UN post

UNITED NATIONS, CMC – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Jamaican Michelle Gyles-McDonnough as Assistant Secretary-General for Development Coordination at the United Nations Development Coordination Office (UNDCO).

She succeeds Oscar Fernandez-Taranco of Argentina.

A UN statement said that Gyles-McDonnough brings more than three decades of leadership experience in sustainable development, international trade and international relations, policy advocacy and organisational transformation.

“Throughout her career, she has led complex, multidisciplinary portfolios spanning economic, social, environmental and governance issues, advancing sustainable development across diverse national and global contexts.

“Recognised for driving institutional change, she has successfully led strengthened capacities, championed digital transformation and fostered innovative development solutions through strategic partnerships with governments, United Nations entities and other stakeholders.”

Gyles-McDonnough currently serves as Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), a position she has held since 2025.

She previously served as director of the Sustainable Development Unit in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General in New York (2017-2025).

Over the course of her United Nations career, she has taken on a range of senior leadership and advisory roles, including United Nations Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam (2013-2016); and United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for Barbados and the OECS (2008-2013).

She also served as Programme Adviser, UNDP Executive Office/Operations Support Group (2006-2008); Caribbean Regional Adviser, UNDP (2005); Chief of the UNDP sub-regional policy advisory facility for the Caribbean (1999-2004); and Coordinator of the Grenada Recovery Programme (2004-2005), following a hurricane that caused destruction estimated at more than 200 per cent of national GDP.

Prior to joining the United Nations, Gyles-McDonnough practised international trade law, served as Legal Adviser at the Embassy of Jamaica in Washington, DC; Adviser to the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS) on international trade matters; and Teaching Assistant at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Gyles-McDonnough holds a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia University School of Law, USA, with honours in international and foreign law; a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, USA; and an Executive Education Diploma from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

She received her undergraduate degree in economics, with a minor in French, from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. She is fluent in English and has professional working fluency in French.

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