Rebeca Grynspan

Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis (Hebrew: רבקה גרינשפן‎; born 14 December 1955) is a Costa Rican economist who has been serving as Ibero-American Secretary General since 2014. She is a former UN Under-Secretary-General,[1] and the Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. She was the Vice President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. Grynspan previously served as Director of UNDP's Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, appointed to the position by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in December 2005.[2]

Rebeca Grynspan
Secretary-General of the Ibero-American General Secretariat
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 April 2014
Preceded by	Enrique Iglesias
Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme
In office 1 February 2010 – 1 April 2014
Secretary-General	Ban Ki-moon
Preceded by	Ad Melkert
Succeeded by	Maria Eugenia Casar
Second Vice President of Costa Rica
In office 8 May 1994 – 8 May 1998
President	José María Figueres
Preceded by	Arnoldo López Echandi
Succeeded by	Elizabeth Odio Benito
Personal details
Born	14 December 1955 San José, Costa Rica
Political party	National Liberation Party
Spouse(s)	Saúl Weisleder
Children	2
Alma mater	Hebrew University of Jerusalem University of Costa Rica University of Sussex

Early life and education

Grynspan is the daughter of Manuel Grynspan Burstin and Sara Mayufis Schapiro, immigrants from Poland of Jewish ancestry. She is married to Saúl Weisleder, deputy for the National Liberation Party, and they have two children.

Grynspan studied economics and sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and later obtained a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in economics from the University of Costa Rica and later on a Master of Arts in Economics from Sussex University.

Early career

Early in her career, Grynspan was a professor and researcher at the Economic Science Research Institute at the University of Costa Rica.

Political career

Career in national politics

Grynspan has held various official functions in her country such as Vice-President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998 and concurrently as Housing Minister from 1996 to 1998, Coordinating Minister of Economy from 1995 to 1996, Coordinating Minister of Social Affairs from 1994 to 1998 and Vice-Minister of Finance from 1986 to 1988.

Career with the United Nations

Grynspan served as Director of the Subregional Headquarters in Mexico of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) from 2001 to 2006, where she also served as Co-Chair of the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Executive Board.[3] She was also a member of the UN Millennium Project’s Task Force on Poverty and Economic Development and of the UN High-Level Panel on Financing for Development.

Grynspan served as Assistant-Secretary-General and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) from 2006 to 2010.[4] In 2010, she was appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the position of UN Under-Secretary-General and the Associate Administrator, serving under the leadership of Helen Clark.

She is a member of the Inter-American Development Bank's (IDB) Program for the Support of Women´s Leadership and Representation (PROLEAD); She is former Vice President of the Board of Directors of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) based in Washington, D.C.

SEGIB

Grynspan was unanimously elected Secretary General of the Ibero-American Secretary General (Secretaria General Iberoamericana), SEGIB, in a special meeting of the Ministers of External Relations on February 24, 2014 in Mexico City, in which representatives of all 22 member countries were present. She succeeded in the office Enrique V. Iglesias who had held the position since the establishment of SEGIB in 2005.[5][6]

In September 2016, Grynspan was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to serve as member of the Lead Group of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement.[7]

In early 2021, Grynspan was appointed by the G20 to the High Level Independent Panel (HLIP) on financing the global commons for pandemic preparedness and response, co-chaired by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Lawrence Summers.[8]

Recognition

In 2014 and 2015, Grynspan was recognized as one of the 50 leading intellectuals of Latin America and, in 2017, she received a Forbes Excellence Award[9] and was granted the Grand Cross of Civil Order of Alfonso X “The Wise[10]” by the Spanish Government. In recognition of her professional achievements, the University of Extremadura[11] and the European University conferred her an honorary doctorate.[12]

Other activities

• World Economic Forum (WEF), Member of the Global Councils on the Future of International Governance, Public-Private Cooperation & Sustainable Development,[13] and the Poverty and Sustainable Development
• UNICEF Scaling-up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, Member of the Steering Committee[14]
• Society for International Development (SID), Member of the Governing Council[15]
• Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity (GISP), Member of the Advisory Board[16]
• Inter-American Dialogue, Member[17]
• International Economic Forum of the Americas (IEFA), Member of the Advisory Board[18]
• International Labour Organization (ILO), Member of the Global Commission on the Future of Work[19]
• Fourth Sector Group, Co-Chair[20][21]
• Women Political Leaders Global Forum, Member[22]
• W20, Member[23]

References

1. "Rebeca Grynspan, Secretaria General Iberoamericana". SEGIB website. Archived from the original on 4 February 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
2. "ECLAC Officer Appointed as UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean". CEPAL. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
3. "Secretary-General appoints Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica as Director of UN Development Programme's Latin America and Caribbean Bureau". UN. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
4. "United Nations Development Programme - Rebeca Grynspan, UNDP Associate Administrator". UNDP. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
5. "Rebeca Grynspan, Secretaria General Iberoamericana". SEGIB website. Archived from the original on 4 February 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
6. González, Miguel (18 Feb 2014). "Rebeca Grynspan será la nueva secretaria general iberoamericana". El País. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
7. Secretary-General Appoints 29 Global Leaders to Spearhead Fight against Malnutrition United Nations, press release of 21 September 2016.
8. Ministry of Economy and FinanceThe G20 establishes a High Level Independent Panel on financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response Ministry of Economy and Finance, press release of January 27, 2021.
9. Redacción. "La secretaria general iberoamericana Rebeca Grynspan cierra este viernes el ciclo de conferencias 'De Cádiz al mundo'". www.portaldecadiz.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-03-12.
10. "12 nuevas Grandes Cruces de la Orden Civil de Alfonso X el Sabio".
11. "La UEx inviste Doctora Honoris Causa a Rebeca Grynspan — Portal de la UEX - Bienvenido a la Universidad de Extremadura". www.unex.es. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
12. "Rebeca Grynspan, Honorary PhD from Universidad Europea". universidadeuropea.es. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
13. "The Future of International Governance & Public-Private Cooperation". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
14. "SUN Movement Lead Group". SUN. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
15. "www.sidint.net". www.sidint.net. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
16. Advisory Board Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity (GISP).
17. "Inter-American Dialogue | Rebeca Grynspan". www.thedialogue.org. Retrieved 2017-04-12.
18. Advisory Board International Economic Forum of the Americas (IEFA).
19. "Global Commission on the Future of Work". 2017-08-14. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
20. "The Fourth Sector Group". The Fourth Sector Group. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
21. "The Fourth Sector Group". The Fourth Sector Group. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
22. "Global Advisory board - Women Political Leaders Global Forum". Women Political Leaders Global Forum. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
23. "Women20 (W20) launches its agenda to enrich the G20". 2017-12-11. Retrieved 2018-03-12.

External links

• UN Biography Rebeca Grynspan
• UNDP webpage
• Speeches and Statements