Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), has announced her resignation from both posts on Saturday, 31 May, citing personal and family reasons.
Appointed in February 2020, Waly was the first woman, Arab, and African to lead both offices concurrently. Her term was originally set to end in February 2026.
During her time at the UN, she oversaw a significant expansion of UNODC’s operations, which now run programmes in 150 countries and have grown by over 60 percent under her leadership.
Before joining the UN, Waly served as Egypt’s Minister of Social Solidarity from 2014 to 2019. She also chaired the Council of Arab Ministers of Social Affairs, led Nasser Social Bank and the National Authority for Social Insurance, and served on Egypt’s Consumer Protection Agency board.
Over nearly three decades, she held multiple leadership positions in development, social protection, and drug control, including roles at the League of Arab States, the UN Development Programme, and Nasser Social Bank.
Waly holds a BA and MA in Humanities from Colorado State University and has further qualifications in international development, project management, and microfinance. She is fluent in Arabic, English, and French.
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