Maimunah Mohd Sharif

Maimunah Sharif with the UN Secretary-General at the United Nations Office at Nairobi in July 2019

On 22 January 2018, Sharif assumed her post at UN-Habitat's Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.[19] She succeeded Joan Clos of Spain.[17] In January 2019 Maimunah Mohd Sharif was designated as the Acting Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi following the appointment of her predecessor, Hanna Tetteh, as Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union in Addis Ababa.[20] She was replaced by incumbent Zainab Bangura, who was appointed on 30 December 2019.[21]

As  Executive Director of UN-Habitat Sharif has focused on reforming and rejuvenating the agency, mobilizing for internal and external support for the organization's restructuring and new Strategic Plan 2020–2023.[22][23] Her efforts seek to transform the organization into an agile and innovative leader on urban issues has been widely appreciated by stakeholders.

Initiatives undertaken by Sharif as Executive Director of UN-Habitat include the adoption of the General Assembly Resolution 73/539 which established a new governance structure for UN-Habitat and initiated an internal restrengthening process.[24]

Sharif is overseeing the initiation of a blueprint for sustainable urban development, which brings together over 24 organizations for a system-wide United Nations strategy on sustainable urbanization.[25]

In May 2019, Sharif headed the first UN-Habitat Assembly in Nairobi.[26] Under the theme, ‘Innovation for Better Quality of Life in Cities and Communities’, with the sub-theme of  ‘Accelerated Implementation of the New Urban Agenda towards Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals’, the Assembly brought together UN Member States, UN specialized agencies, local authorities and non-State actors, including civil society, youth and women, the private sector and academia.[27][28] It established the Executive Board of UN-Habitat and elected its members, reviewed and approved the UN-Habitat Strategic Plan 2020–2023, and reviewed progress in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NUA), among other actions.[26]

Sharif presided over the Ninth and Tenth sessions of the World Urban Forum; in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2018) and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (2020), respectively.[29] Convened by UN-Habitat, the World Urban Forum is the world's premier conference on cities. It was established in 2001 to discuss and examine rapid urbanization and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and policy.[30]

Sharif is known for her people-centred approach to urban planning and she has said  that "it is the people within cities that make them the vibrant places that they are. Young women and men flock to cities not for the infrastructure, but for the people and opportunities within that city." She places great importance on inclusivity in cities and works to promote the positions of marginalized individuals and communities, such as women and youth, whom she says are "traditionally left behind in governance, development and participatory processes.". She is also a firm believer in positive thinking, saying, "if we practice positive thinking, 50% of the hurdles are solved and remaining 50% to be worked for"