H.E. Yeşim Oruç, United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator of the UN System in Guyana, ends her assignment today, after serving in this position since August 2024.
During her tenure, Ms. Oruç has sought to lead the United Nations system to support the government and people of Guyana to ensure that no-one, regardless of their circumstances, status or identity, is left behind from the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Ms. Oruç has coordinated the UN System’s support to national authorities in key areas, including gender equality and women’s empowerment, social protection, food systems transformation, labor, employment, and migration. These initiatives were facilitated by strengthened partnerships with development partners, the private sector, non-governmental organisations, academia, civil society, youth, the media, among others.
Ms. Oruç has worked to align the UN’s programmatic portfolio in Guyana in support of national development priorities for achieving the SDGs. In so doing, she put inclusivity at the center of the UN’s work. This has resulted in a renewed focus on the situation of women and girls, young people, persons living with disabilities, Guyana’s indigenous peoples, persons living with HIV/AIDS, migrant populations, and other vulnerable groups living in Guyana.
“It has been the privilege of my life to serve in a country where a dynamic commitment to global goals is embodied in the national Low Carbon Development Strategy, backed by successive SDG-enabling national budgets. I am immensely grateful for this opportunity to have accompanied this remarkable country on its amazing journey towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. I am also fortunate to have worked with some incredible people who are committed to helping Guyana to honour its human rights commitments. In recent months, it has been inspiring to witness Guyana take up its place on the UN Security Council, where today it is striving to ensure that topics like food security and climate security are placed right at the very top of the global agenda,” said Oruc.
Her successor will be announced later.
