The coordinators of the Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development are from the governments of Croatia, Germany, Nigeria, Morocco, the Republic of Korea and Romania.
Ivan Šimonović, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Croatia
Ambassador Ivan Šimonović started his second mandate as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Croatia to the UN in New York in 2019,
At the United Nations, Šimonović served as the UN Assistant-Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Responsibility to Protect from 2016 to 2018, and as the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights from 2010 to 2016.
Šimonović served Croatia in different capacities, including as the Minister of Justice, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. In 2002, he served as the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Academically, Šimonović worked as a professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, senior visiting scholar and fellow at the Columbia University, New York, visiting professor at the Leeds University, UK, and Penn University, US, as well as honorary professor at the University of Queensland, Australia.
In an expert capacity, Šimonović has been a member of the Council of Europe’s Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) and the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), as well as the Agent of the Republic of Croatia before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Ambassador Šimonović obtained his Law Degree (Bachelor’s and Master’s) and PhD from the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb.
Petra Bollich, UN Senior Counsellor for Environment and Sustainable Development at the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Nations.
Prior to this position, she was Senior Policy Officer Environment, Mobility and Climate Change at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection.
Yvonne Mewengkang, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations, NY.
She works on Second Committee issues, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with focus on the Science, Technology and Innovation as well as Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, ECOSOC Coordination, and Economic related issues
In 2019-2020, Yvonne was in the Security Council Team of the Indonesian Mission during Indonesia’s term as the Non-Permanent Member of the Security Council, with portfolios on several Middle East issues.
Prior to New York, she was the Deputy Director of Asia-Pacific and African Intra and Inter-regional Cooperation at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry in Jakarta, after being tasked with peacekeeping issues at the Directorate of International Security and Disarmament.
Yvonne also served as Second Secretary at the Indonesian Mission in New York during her first assignment in 2013-2016, of which she was responsible for the peacekeeping and peacebuilding portfolios.
Samuel Victor Makwe is the First Secretary (Desk Officer, 2nd Committee & ECOSOC), Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations, New York;
His responsibilities include:
Joint-Coordinator of resolution A/RES/73/222 entitled: “promotion of international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on assets return to foster sustainable development”;
Joint Facilitator of resolution 231 entitled: Disaster Risk Reduction;
Agt. Head of 2nd Committee and ECOSOC, Nigeria Permanent Mission to the United Nations, New York.
Prior to that, he was First Secretary (Political, Education, and Cultural Affairs), Embassy of Nigeria, Cairo, Egypt and Head of Chancery and Charge d’Affaires (a.i.) within the Embassy. He also was Human Rights Desk Officer, Second United Nations Division, International Organisations Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria and in that position attended the 29th, 31st, 30th, 32nd, 34th, 33rd, sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Meryem Hamdouni, Economic and Sustainable Development Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Morocco to the United Nations in New York.
Ms. Meryem Hamdouni serves as Counselor in the Economic and Sustainable Development Section at the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations. In this capacity, she coordinates the work of the Mission on the Second Committee of the United Nations General Assembly. Her portfolio focuses on South–South cooperation, financing for development, climate action, and reforms of the United Nations development system. Through her work, she contributes to advancing multilateral dialogue and partnerships aimed at promoting sustainable development and strengthening international cooperation in support of the 2030 Agenda.
Sungjun Kim, First Secretary working within the Permanent Mission of Republic of Korea to the UN.
He represents the Republic of Korea at the Economic and Financial Committee (Second Committee) of the United Nations General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
– Negotiated UN resolutions, including debt sustainability aimed at extending around $5 billion worth of bilateral debt service suspension to low-income countries.
– Led efforts to develop UN policy recommendations to mobilize private finance for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as aligning investments of development banks with the SDGs and the Paris Agreement.
Andreea Mocanu, Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations.
Andreea Mocanu joined the Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations in early 2022, closely following the work of the Second Committee and various topics related to sustainable development field.
Prior to that, Andreea Mocanu was Chief of staff of the State Secretary dealing with Multilateral and Global Affairs within the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Andreea has a strong background in negotiation, coordination and cooperation with international partners as she was part of the team that negotiated in 2016 the adoption of the non-legally binding definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) when the organization was chaired by Romania. As junior diplomat, she was part of the Romanian Chair’s team of the Second Preparatory Committee for the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
She has an extensive experience in democracy and human rights field participating in multiple election observation missions organized by the EU and OSCE in Belarus (2010), Ukraine (2012), Armenia (2012), Kazakhstan (2011 & 2012), Lebanon (2018), Malawi (2019) or Venezuela (2021).
She joined the Romanian diplomatic service in 2008 and has been posted to Madrid and Tel Aviv.
Andreea holds a MA in Security Studies from the University of Bucharest (Romania, 2009), a BA in Politics from Nottingham Trent University (UK, 2006) and a BA in International Relations from Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj Napoca (Romania, 2007).