Juan Carlos Mendoza is the new Managing Director of the Global Mechanism

18 April 2018 – Bonn, Germany – Mr. Juan Carlos Mendoza has been appointed as Managing Director of the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD. The appointment was announced by the UNCCD Executive Secretary, Ms. Monique Barbut, who expressed her confidence in the new Managing Director who took up his duties on 26 March 2018.

It is with great pleasure that I introduce Mr. Juan Carlos Mendoza from Colombia as the new Managing Director of the Global Mechanism.  Mr. Mendoza brings a rich blend of experience from the private sector, international negotiations and regulatory processes into the top management of the UNCCD secretariat.

— Ms. Monique Barbut, UNCCD Executive Secretary

Mr. Mendoza brings to the position extensive experience at the intersection of international development, climate finance, project finance, international policy, and resource mobilization. He has served in a number of high-profile positions, including ten years at the World Bank in both technical and managerial roles, and more recently as part of the senior management team and interim Director at the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

He has been responsible for designing and implementing key components of the operational procedures, coordination and complementarity with other financial mechanisms and resource mobilization strategies of the Green Climate Fund. At the World Bank, he managed the relationship with the key funders for the Bank’s Pacific program, particularly the governments of Australia and New Zealand. He was also the advisor to the Bank’s Vice-President for concessional finance and global partnerships where he was part of the team that successfully reached a replenishment of USD50 billion for the International Development Association, the Bank’s fund for the poorest countries. 

I am excited to join the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD at a crucial time when we are moving to support countries to achieve the targets that have been identified during the Land Degradation Neutrality target setting process undertaken under the Convention.

— Mr. Juan Carlos Mendoza, Managing Director of the Global Mechanism of UNCCD

Mr. Mendoza holds a Bachelor and Master degrees in Aerospace Engineering from, respectively, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master in Public Policy from Georgetown University.

Read more:

• The Global Mechanism
• The land degradation neutrality target-setting programme