Netherlands Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation

On 26 October 2017, Ms. Sigrid Kaag was appointed Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation in the third Rutte government. Through her policy document “Investing in Global Prospects”, published in May 2018, Minister Kaag reoriented Dutch aid and trade towards in particular conflict prevention, humanitarian diplomacy, climate action, education, digitalization and gender equality, with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as the overarching framework.  

Before taking political office in the Netherlands, Ms. Sigrid Kaag served as Under-Secretary-General and the Special Coordinator for Lebanon and prior to that as Under-Secretary-General and Special Coordinator of the United Nations – Office for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (UN-OPCW) Joint Mission to eliminate the declared chemical weapons programme of the Syrian Arab Republic. 

Ms. Kaag has gathered a wealth of experience in political, humanitarian and development affairs during her career in the Middle East, Africa, Geneva and New York.  She was awarded the Carnegie Wateler Peace Prize in November 2016 and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Exeter in 2015.