By: Asim Nawaz
BANGKOK: Pio Smith a highly experienced UN leader has been appointed as the new Asia-Pacific Regional Director for UNFPA, the sexual and reproductive health agency of the United Nations. As the Regional Director for UNFPA Asia and the Pacific, Mr. Smith will oversee the organization’s work in 36 countries in the region.
“It is a great pleasure and honour to be appointed as UNFPA Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific. More than half of the world’s 8 billion population live in Asia and the Pacific, a region of diverse population trends and tremendous opportunity in advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights,” said Mr. Smith. “I join at a critical time when governments, together with civil society, are reviewing the progress made since the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. We are working with partners to continue accelerating progress for every woman and girl to access sexual and reproductive health services across the region, so that we can build safer and more inclusive societies for all.”
Prior to this appointment, Mr. Smith was the Chief of Staff of UNFPA, providing strategic, political and operational leadership and oversight, a role he held since 2018 based at UNFPA’s headquarters in New York.
During his 18-year career with the United Nations, Mr. Smith has held key positions including working as Special Assistant to two UN Deputy Secretaries-General and as Chief of Staff to the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Post-2015 Development Planning. He also served as a Policy Officer in the UN’s Ethics Office and in the UN Secretariat’s Department of Management. Before joining the United Nations, Mr. Smith worked in the UK Home Office on regulatory reform and with the UK Regional Assembly focusing on European policy.
Mr. Smith holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Dublin City University, Ireland, and a Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Languages from the Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
A national of Ireland, Mr. Smith is married and has four children.