Secretary-General appoints Eric Jan Overvest of the Netherlands United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sao Tome e Principe

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Eric Jan Overvest of the Netherlands as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sao Tome e Principe, with the host Government’s approval. He takes up his post on 17 March. 

Mr. Overvest has more than 25 years of experience in international development, humanitarian affairs, peacebuilding, strategic coordination and resource mobilization, which he has acquired while holding leadership positions at the United Nations and externally across multiple regions. Within the Organization, he most recently served as Resident Coordinator ad interim in Djibouti, after holding a similar senior-level representational position as Resident Coordinator in Algeria. During these assignments, he led the work of the United Nations country teams in supporting national responses to the COVID-19 crisis as well as to accelerate the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to that he was a Senior Recovery Advisor in Iraq with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) where he set up and managed the funding facility for stabilization while mobilizing resources for immediate recovery. With UNDP, he also served as Country Director in Libya and Haiti, Deputy Resident Representative in Somalia, Assistant Resident Representative in Mali, Coordinator of the Sub Regional Resource Facility for Latin America and the Caribbean in Panama and Donor Relations Officer in New York. He also was Deputy to the Special Advisor of the Secretary-General to Libya where he worked on the planning for the design of the United Nations mission and served as a Coordination Specialist in the Office of the Resident Coordinator in Sudan. He began his United Nations career in Nicaragua as a Program Officer for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and UNDP.   

Prior to joining the United Nations, he served as Administrator for a Dutch consultancy firm, DHV. 

Mr. Overvest holds a master’s degree in economics as well as a master’s degree in French Linguistics from the Free University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. 

He is fluent in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and has a working knowledge of Portuguese.