The Directorate of Strategic Planning, Programming and Policy is responsible for UNIDO’s strategic planning and programming through the provision of coordinated and cohesive frameworks and policy advice. It plays the central role for UNIDO regarding the engagement in South-South and Triangular Cooperation matters, the strategic positioning of UNIDO within the United Nation system, strategic engagement in multilateral fora including BRICS, G20 and G7. It also leads the promotion of Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women through mainstreaming gender considerations at the institutional and programmatic level. In addition, the Directorate oversees the Organization’s industrial policy research, statistics and SDG9 reporting activities, and normative function, and ensures a cohesive and consistent approach to Knowledge Management (KM) in UNIDO. Ugaz Estrada is also and Special Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Prior to this assignment, Ugaz Estrada was the Director of the Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women Unit. She was also the Director of the Policy Research and Statistics Department.

Before joining UNIDO, she served as the United Nations Resident Coordinator as well as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative for Paraguay. She also served as the Deputy Resident Representative for UNDP in Argentina and as Deputy Director for the Human Development Report Office of UNDP in New York. Ugaz Estrada has also held various positions in academia in Switzerland, United Kingdom and Finland as well as with the World Bank in Washington DC.

Ugaz Estrada holds a PhD in economics from Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris.