Monica Juma, who currently serves as the National Security Advisor to William Ruto and Secretary to the National Security Council, has been appointed to a senior leadership position at the United Nations.
She will serve as Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and at the same time become Director General of the United Nations Office at Vienna.
The appointment was announced on Friday, March 6 by António Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations. In this new role, Juma will succeed Ghada Fathi Waly of Egypt, who has held the position since 2020 and will complete her six year term in 2026.
The United Nations confirmed the change through an official statement that introduced Juma as the incoming head of the two offices.
The two positions are usually held by the same person according to long standing United Nations practice. The Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime also serves as the Director General of the United Nations Office at Vienna.
The role carries the rank of Under Secretary General, which places the office holder among the most senior officials in the global organization.
In the United Nations structure, the Under Secretary General level is the third highest rank after the Secretary General and the Deputy Secretary General.
Appointments at this level are made directly by the UN Secretary General. The first term often runs for up to five years and may be renewed depending on performance and the needs of the organization.
With this appointment, Juma joins a group of senior leaders responsible for guiding major global programs and policies.
While announcing the appointment, the United Nations described Juma as an experienced strategic leader with deep knowledge in several important fields. These include public policy, diplomacy, governance, and security.
The organization noted that she has built this experience through years of service in government as well as academic work.
Juma has held several high level positions in the Kenyan government. She served as Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Energy between 2021 and 2022.
Before that she was Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Defence from 2020 to 2021 and Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2018 to 2020.
She also briefly served as Acting Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining in 2022.
Her earlier roles in government included serving as Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2018. She also worked as Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government from 2014 to 2016 and earlier in the Ministry of Defence from 2013 to 2014.
These roles gave her wide experience in national security, international relations, and public administration.Before joining those positions, Juma represented Kenya abroad.
She served as Kenya’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Djibouti and also worked as the country’s Permanent Representative to the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa between 2010 and 2013.
Juma also has a strong academic background. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
In addition, she earned both her Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Government and Public Administration from the University of Nairobi.
Her appointment places a Kenyan leader at the center of global efforts to address issues such as crime, drug trafficking, and international security cooperation.
