Natalia Kanem, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), will visit Cuba starting today, responding to an invitation from the Cuban Government.
According to the Fund’s representation on the island, during his visit, which will last until next Wednesday, he will exchange with national authorities, tour the projects developed by UNFPA in Cuba and participate in the 2022 Cuba-Health International Convention, inaugurated this Monday.
The senior official has a history of more than 30 years of strategic leadership in the fields of medicine, public and reproductive health, social justice and philanthropy.
Her academic career began at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Columbia University School of Public Health.
From 2014 to 2016, Kanem represented UNFPA in the United Republic of Tanzania, and in July of that year she was appointed UNFPA Deputy Executive Director with responsibility for programmes.
In addition, she was the founding president of ELMA Philanthropies Inc., a private institution whose work primarily targets children and youth in Africa, and she held the position of senior associate of the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies.
She has a medical degree from Columbia University (New York) and a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Washington (Seattle), specializing in Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine. Likewise, she graduated with honors from Harvard University, where she studied History and Science.
Natalia Kanem is the fifth Executive Director of UNFPA since the Fund began operations in 1969.
(With information from Cubaminrex)