Visit of the United Nations University Rector

David M. Malone, Rector of the United Nations University, visited today the UNU-GEST programme at the University of Iceland. He was welcomed by Jón Atli Benediktsson, the Rector of the University of Iceland and Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the former President of Iceland and the Patron of UNU-GEST, at a meeting, where Irma Erlingsdóttir, Director of UNU-GEST and Erla Hlín Hjálmarsdóttir, Head of Research at UNU-GEST, discussed the activities and future plans of UNU-GEST, its relationship with the other UNU programmes in Iceland and its place within the UN system. Mr. Malone elaborated on the UNU academic priorities and his ideas about the development and growth potential of the four Icelandic UNU programmes – UNU-GEST, the Fisheries Training Programme, the Geothermal Training Programme, and the Land Restoration Programme. He emphasized the value of UNU-GEST‘s efforts to promote gender as a cross-cutting theme in development and post-conflict reconstruction.

Mr. Malone is the sixth Rector of the UNU and he holds the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations in that post since he was appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in 2013. Prior to joining the United Nations University, Mr. Malone served (2008–2013) as President of Canada’s International Development Research Centre, a funding agency that supports policy-relevant research in the developing world.  

From the left: Dr. Irma Erlingsdóttir, Director of UNU-GEST, Dr. Valur Ingimundarson, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Iceland and UNU-GEST Board Member, Dr. Jón Atli Benediktsson, Rector of the University of Iceland, Dr. David Malone, Rector of UNU, Mrs. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Ms. Erla Hlín Hjálmarsdóttir, Head of Research at UNU-GEST, Mr. Max Bond, Vice-Rector of UNU, and Ms. Gerður Gestsdóttir, Project Manager at UNU-GEST.