Canadieren Joanna Kerr ny international generalsekretær i ActionAid International

ActionAid International, som MS er en del af, har netop udpeget en ny international generalsekretær med base i Sydafrika. Canadieren Joanna Kerr – bl.a. med en fortid i Oxfam – afløser nepaleseren Ramesh Singh på posten.

Den 1. juni afløser canadiske Joanna Kerr nepaleseren Ramesh Singh på posten som ActionAid Internationals øverste chef med base i Sydafrika. Joanna Kerr er 42 år og i øjeblikket "policy direktør" hos Oxfam-Canada og har tidligere bl.a. været direktør for AWID, Association of Women's Rights in Development, som hun udviklede til en stor international feministisk medlemsorganisation.

Den 54-årige Ramesh Singh har været international generalsekretær siden 2004 og har i 26 år beklædt poster i ActionAid – bl.a. som regional direktør for Asien og som landedirektør i Etiopien, Nepal og Vietnam.

"Jeg har været meget glad for samarbejdet med Ramesh og vil komme til at savne ham," fortæller MS' generalsekretær Frans Mikael Jansen.

"Men det bliver spændende med en ny international generalsekretær i ActionAid. Joanna kommer "udefra" til organisationen med "friske øjne". Hendes umiddelbare opgaver vil blive en strukturreform af det internationale sekretariat og at lede processen med at videreudvikle den overordnede strategi. Jeg deltog selv i et af ansættelsespanelerne og oplevede Joanna som en nærværende, skarp og handlekraftig person – og glæder mig til samarbejdet med hende i den kommende periode," fortæller Frans Mikael Jansen.

Læs hele ActionAid's engelske pressemeddelelse her:

ActionAid appoints new international chief executive

ActionAid has appointed Canadian national Joanna Kerr, 42, as the next new international chief executive, based at its headquarters in South Africa.

Joanna will join ActionAid on 1 June from her current post as policy director with Oxfam Canada.

“I am thrilled to be joining such a dynamic organization and look forward to working with ActionAid´s creative and diverse global team to help end poverty and advance human rights for all,” she said.

Prior to Oxfam, Joanna was executive director of the Association of Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) where she transformed it into an international, feminist membership organisation, mobilising almost 7000 people and 200 organisations. She has extensive experience of international governance and strategic links to international networks.

“Joanna’s values, vision and politics are totally consistent with ActionAid’s commitment to social, political and ecological justice to poor and excluded people in the communities where we work," said Irene Ovonji Odida, ActionAid's international chair. "The international board is confident that Joanna will build on what has already been achieved under Ramesh Singh’s leadership while bringing fresh energy and vision, as we move to the next strategic plan for the organisation..”

Joanna holds a BA (Hons) in African Studies from the University of Toronto and an MA in Gender and Development from the University of Sussex.

Joanna replaces the current chief executive, Ramesh Singh, 54 from Nepal, who has been in this position since 2004. Ramesh leaves ActionAid after 26 years having held posts as Asia regional director, country director in Ethiopia, Nepal and Vietnam and head of agriculture and water programmes in Gambia. Ramesh will be most remembered for his strategic contribution to overseeing the successful internationalisation of the organisation.