United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Eric Jan Overvest of the Netherlands today as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sao Tome and Principe, with the host Government’s approval. He takes up his post on 17 March.
Mr. Overvest has more than 25 years of experience in international development, humanitarian affairs, peacebuilding, strategic coordination and resource mobilization, acquired while he held leadership positions at the United Nations and externally across multiple regions.
Within the Organization, he most recently served as Resident Coordinator ad interim in Djibouti, after holding the equivalent position in Algeria. During those assignments, Mr. Overvest led the work of United Nations country teams in supporting national responses to the COVID‑19 crisis as well as accelerating pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Before that, Mr. Overvest was a Senior Recovery Adviser in Iraq with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where he established and managed the funding facility for stabilization while mobilizing resources for immediate recovery. With UNDP, he also served as Country Director in Libya and Haiti, Deputy Resident Representative in Somalia, Assistant Resident Representative in Mali, Coordinator of the Subregional Resource Facility for Latin America and the Caribbean in Panama, and Donor Relations Officer in New York.
Mr. Overvest was also Deputy to the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General in Libya, working on the design of the United Nations mission, and served as a Coordination Specialist in the Office of the Resident Coordinator in Sudan.
He began his United Nations career in Nicaragua as a Programme Officer for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and UNDP.
Before joining the Organization, he served as the Administrator of DHV, a Dutch consultancy firm.
Mr. Overvest holds a master’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in French Linguistics from the Free University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is fluent in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian, and has a working knowledge of Portuguese.
