Albert Gerard "Bert" Koenders currently serves as the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI). He was appointed to this position by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 2 August 2011. Koenders is a former Dutch politician. He was Minister for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands from 2007 until 2010. From 1997 until 2007 he was a member of the House of Representatives.

Mr Koenders worked from 1983 to 1992 as a personal assistant to several members of the House of Representatives of the States General and as coordinating foreign policy assistant for the parliamentary Labour Party. From 1984 he was also part-time adjunct professor of international relations at Webster University in Leiden, and from 1987 part-time consultant and European director of Parliamentarians for Global Action in New York. From 1993 to 1994 he was the European staff member and political advisor to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the UN, working in Mozambique, South Africa and Mexico. He was subsequently principal administrator of the policy planning staff of the Directorate-General for external relations, conflict prevention and European Union enlargement at the European Commission in Brussels until 1997. Since 1997, Mr Koenders has been a member of the House of Representatives of the States General. From 2000 to 2002 he was also visiting professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University in Bologna.

Netherlands Foreign Policy, International Relations, Foreign Affairs, Leadership,