Sigrid Kaag new UN job for Gaza; Jetten takes over as deputy PM

Sigrid Kaag is beginning her new job at the United Nations, and has formally ended her work as a Dutch Cabinet member. The former deputy prime minister will work on humanitarian aid in Gaza, and on that region’s reconstruction.

Kaag will start her new position in New York, where the United Nations is headquartered. She will meet there with United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, who asked her to take on this position. She will work from New York for about a week, and then she will travel to the Middle East, the UN said.

Kaag will initially work from the Jordanian capital city of Amman. The current plan is for her to then establish an office in Egypt, and eventually begin working from Gaza at a later stage.

Her formal title in her new position is Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza. Before Kaag entered politics, she worked for the UN for many years, including in the Middle East.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander accepted Kaag’s resignation as a Cabinet member “in the most honorable manner” at the end of December. From this Monday, her duties as finance minister and deputy prime minister will be taken over by her successor as D66 party leader, Rob Jetten. He will receive substantial assistance at the Ministry of Finance from Marnix van Rij, one of the two state secretaries at that ministry.