Dato’ Seri Paduka Maimunah Mohd Sharif
Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif (Malaysia) is the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), appointed by the Secretary-General in 2017. As the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Ms. Sharif has focused on reforming and rejuvenating the agency, mobilizing for internal and external support for the organization's restructuring and new Strategic Plan 2020–2023.
Prior to this appointment, Ms. Sharif was the Mayor of the City Council of Penang Island, Malaysia. Beginning her career as a Town Planner at the Municipal Council of Penang Island in 1985, she was the first woman to be appointed President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai in 2011. As mayor of a local authority, she led the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai to achieve its vision of a “cleaner, greener, safer and healthier place to work, live, invest and play.”