Ulrika Modéer

Eva Maria Ulrika Modéer (born 2 October 1969) is a Swedish civil servant and diplomat who has been the head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)'s Director of the External Relations and Advocacy Bureau as well as the assistant secretary-general of the organisation since 2018. She has since became the highest ranking Swede in the system of the United Nations (UN), along with Åsa Regnér.

Education
Modéer graduated from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, with a B.A. in international relations. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Göteborg's Faculty of Social Sciences in 2019.

Diplomatic career
Modeer served as a United Nations Volunteer in Guatemala in the late 1990s, when the country had just emerged from Guatemalan Civil War and the signing of the Agreement on Firm and Lasting Peace. Later, she mostly worked with Caritas Sverige, Diakonia, and Sida on international development concerns between 1994 and 2014. She led a team in the Green Party's parliamentary organisation from 2011 to 2014, and from 2014 to 2018, she served as Isabella Lövin's state secretary in the Foreign Ministry under the Löfven administration. Prior to her appointment as Sweden's State Secretary for Climate Change and International Development Cooperation, she played a key role in transforming the nation's approach to international development cooperation in order to facilitate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Ann-Sofie Nilsson and Frode Mauring inked a US$3.6 million deal on May 18, 2015, in Modéer's presence, to promote the resilience of Palestinians living in Area C and East Jerusalem. The third phase of the Community Resilience and Development Programme (CRDP), which was being carried out by UNDP with funding from the governments of Sweden, Austria, Norway, and the United Kingdom, officially began with the signing ceremony.

On 20 August 2018, Modéer took up her position as the Assistant Administrator of the UNDP and Director of the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy. As the UNDP works to realise the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), she would lead the organisation in fostering and expanding partnerships with Member States and new and emerging partners. She would also oversee UNDP's lobbying and communications efforts. Michael O'Neill and Robert Piper, who oversaw the bureau during the temporary transition period, are succeeded by her.

Members of the APPG for the UN Global Goals met with Modéer on 13 June 2023, in Parliament. She was traveling to London to attend talks with the FCDO and other organisations. Topics discussed included how the United Kingdom may incorporate the SDGs into its programming, the UNDP's position as a "lead implementer" of programs, and the necessity for nations to maintain their commitment to Voluntary National Review (VNR) procedures.

In the presence of Shri B.L. Verma and Modéer, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) and UNDP signed an MoU on 22 August 2023, under which UNDP would offer MDoNER technical support on accelerating progress toward the SDGs, monitoring, evaluation, and capacity building; supporting aspirational districts and blocks; and supporting the adoption of emerging technologies in governance and scaling up best practices.

Personal life
Modéer was born on 2 October 1969, is married, and has three kids.