United Nations Secretary-General today announced the appointment of Mr. Marcos Athias Neto of Brazil as Assistant Secretary General, Assistant Administrator and Director, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 

Currently, serving as Director of UNDP’s Sustainable Finance Hub, Mr. Neto has more than 25 years’ experience in the field of development - and more recently in finance and private-sector development.

He currently leads UNDP’s work on sustainable finance in more than 140 countries, in collaboration with other UN agencies and partners. As the Head of the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group Secretariat, Mr. Neto also co-chairs the executive boards of the Business Call to Action and the Connecting Business Initiative. 

Following the announcement, UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said “I am delighted to warmly welcome Mr. Marcos Neto to this new role as the Director of UNDP’s Bureau of Policy and Programme Support (BPPS), which represents UNDP’s ‘brain’ as it analyzes global development challenges and determines the best way that UNDP can provide support to countries and communities across the globe. In this respect, BPPS will benefit from Mr. Neto’s extensive knowledge in the financial sphere as well as his ability to challenge accepted wisdom and find creative solutions -- vital assets during a period of immense global flux and overlapping crises.”

Prior to joining UNDP, Mr. Neto served at CARE International for 17 years, in roles including Regional Manager for Asia and Latin America at CARE UK, Executive Director of CARE, Brazil, and Programme Director for Central America.

Mr. Neto succeeds Mr. Haoliang Xu, who has been recently appointed as Under Secretary General, Associate Administrator of UNDP. “I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Mr. Haoliang Xu, whose tenure as Director of BPPS has been marked by a range of bold new initiatives and innovative knowledge products that are helping to advance the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Administrator Steiner.

A lawyer by training, Mr. Neto holds a Master of Law degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. He is a passionate advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals.