Special Advisor on the MDGs to the Administrator of UNDP

Eveline Herfkens’ extensive experience at the highest levels of development policy formulation and implementation makes her an authoritative commentator on issues of aid, trade and debt relief, particularly as they pertain to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. In October 2002, she was appointed by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as Executive Coordinator and founded the Millennium Campaign. Presently, she serves as Special Advisor on the MDGs to the Administrator of the UN Development Programme.

Prior to this appointment, Herfkens served as the Netherlands’ Minister for Development Cooperation between 1998 and 2002. During this time, she was also a member of the World Bank and IMF Development Committee and a co-founder of the Utstein Group. Presently she is a member of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, established by the International Labour Organization in February 2002.

Herfkens served as Ambassador/Permanent Representative of the Netherlands at the United Nations and other international organizations, including the World Trade Organization in Geneva between 1996 and 1998. From 1990-1996, she was an Executive Director of the World Bank Group in Washington, D.C. Herfkens was a Member of Parliament in the Netherlands from 1981-1990. She served as Member and Counselor-Treasurer of Parliamentarians for Global Action from 1985-1990. She was also a member of the Economic Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Co-organizer of the North-South Campaign.

Herfkens studied Law and Economics at Leiden University and graduated in 1975.