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Nairobi – Maimunah Mohd Sharif of Malaysia has been named the new executive director of UN-Habitat. She was previously the mayor of Penang Island, Malaysia.

Maimunah Mohd Sharif was elected executive director of the United Nations’ Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) by the UN General Assembly. She succeeds Joan Clos of Spain who led the UN agency from October 2010 to December 2017. Under Clos’ leadership, the agency steered the world’s cities towards sustainability, economic and social progress and inclusion, according to a UN-Habitat statement announcing Ms. Sharif's new position. 

Prior to joining UN-Habitat, Ms Sharif was the mayor of Penang Island, Malaysia. She began her career as a town planner at the municipal council of Penang Island in 1985 and was promoted to director of planning and development in 2003, a position that she held for six years. In 2011 she became the first woman to be appointed president of the municipal council of Seberang Perai. 

Ms Sharif led Seberang Perai in its vision of a “cleaner, greener, safer and healthier place to work, live, invest and play”. She is also a champion of Gender Responsive Participatory Budgeting, which mainstreams gender into budgetary and development policy and planning.

She holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Town Planning Studies from the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology in the UK and a Master of Science in Planning studies from the Malaysia Science University.