4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Trusteeship Council Chamber
Mr. Elliott Harris, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development and Chief Economist, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
introduction of the Secretary-General's reports on long term trends and scenarios and on the theme of ECOSOC 2019 session
Mr. José Antonio Ocampo, Chair of the Committee on Development Policy (CDP), Introduction of the CDP report
Followed by general debate
Mr. Harris brings over 25 years of international experience in the fields of international economics and development policy analysis, coupled with knowledge of the United Nations system, multilateral and inter–agency coordination processes. He has extensive experience in the design of macroeconomic policies and its application as a central instrument for the reduction of poverty and for resilient and sustained economic development. His work in the field of economics also focuses on the macroeconomic linkages with global social and environmental policies.
Since 2015, Mr. Harris has served as Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the New York Office of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). He joined UNEP’s Senior Management Team in 2013 as Director of the New York Office and Secretary to the Environment Management Group.
Prior to joining UNEP, Mr. Harris began his career in the International Monetary Fund in 1988, where he worked in the African Department and the Fiscal Affairs Department. In 2002, he became an Adviser in the Policy Development and Review Department, and was appointed in 2008 as Special Representative to the United Nations, in addition to serving as Assistant Director of the Strategy and Policy Review Department.
Mr. Harris holds a Bachelor of Science in German and Political Science and an advanced degree in economics. He was awarded an Advanced Studies Certificate in international economics and policy research from the Institute of World Economics in Kiel, Germany.
Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs and director of the Economic and Political Development Concentration. He is also co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue and Member of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University. He has occupied numerous positions at the United Nations and in his native Colombia, including United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Minister of Finance, Minister of Agriculture and Director of the National Planning Office of Colombia, as well as Member of the Board of Banco de la República, Colombia’s central bank. In 2015–2016, he was also the head of Colombia’s Rural Development Commission. He has received numerous academic distinctions, including the 2012 Jaume Vicens Vives award of the Spanish Association of Economic History for the best book on Spanish or Latin American economic history, the 2008 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought and the 1988 Alejandro Ángel Escobar National Science Award of Colombia. He has published extensively on macroeconomic theory and policy, international financial issues, economic and social development, international trade and Colombian and Latin American economic history.
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