Talk:Josette Sheeran/Old

Josette Sheeran is the eleventh Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). She was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Jacques Diouf in November 20061, and began her tenure April 2007.

World Food Programme (WFP)
As Executive Director of WFP, Sheeran is responsible for managing the world’s largest humanitarian organization which includes a worldwide organization of nearly 11,000 people. WFP has a dual mission of providing emergency food aid to the world’s hungry as well as addressing the causes of chronic hunger. The UN estimates that there are more than 850,000 hungry and malnourished people, disproportionately represented by women and children who are often victims of war and natural disasters; orphans and families affected by HIV/AIDS; and schoolchildren in poor communities.

"I think we can, in our lifetime, win the battle against hunger because we now have the science, technology, know-how and the logistics to be able to meet hunger where it comes," Ms Sheeran said.2

Sheeran has outlined seven reasons why chronic hunger can be overcome and has expressed commitment to meeting the UN Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger and poverty by 2015.3

"Those pictures of children with swollen bellies will be a thing of history."2

The World Food Programme, founded in 1963, last year provided food to more than 90 million poor people in more than 80 countries worldwide. Its annual budget is US$3 billion.

National: United States
In August 2005, Sheeran became Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs at the United States Department of State becoming the senior economic representative on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s diplomatic team. Sheeran developed and oversaw implementation of a number of State Department initiatives to support economic transformation and reconstruction, especially in Central Asia and Afghanistan. Sheeran was also responsible for a range of economic issues including: development, trade, agriculture, finance, energy, telecommunications and transportation. She helped foster and carry out aid and development initiatives in countries like China, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Lebanon.

Ms Sheeran has also served as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), where she advanced the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which helps African countries develop trade capacity so they can successfully compete in international markets. She was responsible for trade negotiations in Asia and Africa, and was instrumental in launching the first USTR trade capacity building department.

International: G8 and United Nations
During her time as Under Secretary, Sheeran also served as the US Foreign Affairs Sous-Sherpa for the Group of Eight (G8) Summit. And in 2006 she was named, by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, to the United Nations’ High Level Panel on System-Wide Coherence. As part of this panel, Sheeran, along with the Prime Ministers Luisa Dias Diogo of Mozambique, Jens Stoltenberg of Norway and Shaukat Aziz of Pakistan, conducted hundreds of interviews with development and humanitarian experts, NGOs and national leaders throughout the world. From these interviews, Sheeran and her fellow panel members compiled suggestions and strategies to improve the management and efficacy of the UN’s developmental, humanitarian and environmental efforts.

As Under Secretary, Sheeran also represented the United States as Alternate Governor for the World Bank; the Inter-American Development Bank; the African Development Bank; the Asian Development Bank; and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. She was also a member of the Board of Directors for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

Media
Sheeran has been an international reporter, editor and newspaper executive, beginning her career covering the White House during President Carter’s presidency. Later in her career, during her tenure as managing editor of a U.S. major newspaper, she was a regular commentator on television news programmes and twice served as a Pulitzer Prize juror, including for foreign reporting.

Other
Before entering public service, Sheeran was Managing Director of Starpoint Solutions, a  Wall Street technology firm that works with Fortune 500 clients. She also served as President and CEO of a Washington D.C. think tank, where she advanced the agenda of economic empowerment for inner cities and developing nations.

She has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations for more than a decade and has served on its Washington advisory board. She has served on a number of other boards, including the Washington boards of the Urban League and the United Negro College Fund.

Awards
She has received numerous awards, including the Press Award for Journalistic Achievement by the National Order of Women Legislators and a national award for developing and promoting African-American journalists.

Education
She earned her BA from the University of Colorado in 1976.

Note
Portions of this entry were taken from Sheeran’s official biography on the World Food Programme’s website.

Media Clippings
1. BBC; 'Ethiopia: WFP boss renews partnership with African Union,' 26 April 2007

2. Xinghua News Agency; 'WFP chief arrives in Sudan on first visit to Africa,' 25 April 2007

3. Wall Street Journal; 'U.N. Names Head of Food Program,' 8 November 2006

4. Washington Post; 'American to head U.N. food program,' 8 November 2006