Cécile Molinier

Cécile Molinier joined the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1992 from the UN Secretariat where she had held several positions in Conference Services, the Staff Union, the Department of Management, and as Special Assistant to the Director General for Development and International Economic Cooperation. Before joining the United Nations, she lectured in French at Smith College in Massachusetts and taught English in France.

Her first assignment in UNDP was as Deputy Resident Representative in Tunisia followed by Resident Coordinator/Resident Representative assignments in Sao Tome and Principe, Togo, and Mauritania respectively. She was reassigned as Director to the UNDP Office in Geneva in August 2007. As UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative at country level, Ms. Molinier contributed to the achievement of national development objectives in strategic areas such as community based management of natural resources in Tunisia, environmental protection, poverty reduction and capacity development in Sao Tomé and Principe, mobilization against HIVAIDS in Togo, support to democratic transition and human rights in Mauritania. At Headquarters level, until her retirement in October 2012, she was instrumental in promoting the UN reform agenda and UNDP corporate priorities by developing innovative partnerships with non traditional partners such as sub- national authorities, the academic community, civil society organizations and the private sector.

Cecile Molinier holds both Bachelor and Masters of Arts degrees in English from the Sorbonne in Paris, a Masters degree in English Literature from Queen Mary College, London University and an MBA (Organisational Behaviour) from Pace University in New York. She is proficient in several languages such as French, English, German, Spanish and Portuguese.