Paul Ladd has been Director of UNRISD since October 2015. Before taking up this position he had been at UNDP, where he had most recently been Director of the team supporting consultations and technical inputs for the 2030 Development Agenda.
Previously he led UNDP’s policy team on ‘inclusive globalization’ – including trade, development finance, and migration. From 2008-2009, he provided support to the Office of the UN Secretary-General on the financial and economic crisis, and engagement with the G20.
Before moving to New York, Paul was a policy adviser on international development for the UK Treasury, including the period building up to and through the UK’s Chair of the G8 and European Union in 2005.
Previously he had been Chief Economist and acting Head of Policy with UK charity Christian Aid, the UK Department for International Development’s economic adviser for South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland, and a financial adviser in the Central Bank of Guyana.
Paul received his BSc in Economics and his MSc in Quantitative Development Economics from the University of Warwick. In 2016 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Law (LLD), also by the University of Warwick.
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Paul is a member of the International Geneva Committee of the Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS), and the UNITAR 2030 Advisory Council.
Paul is also an
International Geneva Gender Champion. He has committed to ensuring that relevant gender concerns feature in every piece of published UNRISD research and to seek gender balance in the Institute's network of collaborating researchers. UNRISD supports the International Geneva Gender Champion initiative's
Panel Parity Pledge.