Studied economics, University of Hagen, Germany; MA in Public Policy and Administration, Germany’s Foreign Affairs Institute. Formerly: 30 years working in international affairs, global issues and development financing. Humanitarian and field experience. 2000, Germany’s Civil Coordinator in Kosovo. 2001, Germany’s Special Envoy to Afghanistan. 2006-09, Germany’s Humanitarian Coordinator, managed Germany’s multimillion-dollar humanitarian aid budget, oversaw Germany’s humanitarian operations, and took forward new initiatives on landmines and conflict prevention. 2009-10, coordinated a taskforce in the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs to respond to the global financial crisis. 2010-12, Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2012-14, Director-General of Germany’s Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. 2014-17, Executive Director, World Bank Group, responsible for strategy, policy and budgeting, and helped to foster closer cooperation between the World Bank and the United Nations. Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Former Member of the Advisory Board of both the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).