Sigrid Kaag

Sigrid Kaag is a top diplomat and former politician, renowned for her profound experience and expertise in international relations, conflict resolution, trade, and development. Kaag is widely respected for her principled and pragmatic approach to international issues and for her commitment to peace, international cooperation, and sustainable trade and development. In the world’s most challenging and horrific crises, she operates with insight, integrity, and a global perspective grounded in human values.

After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the American University in Cairo, a master’s degree in Philosophy from Oxford as well as a subsequent degree from Exeter University, she started her career at Shell Int in London in 1988. Kaag joined the Netherlands Foreign Ministry from 1990 until 1993, followed by a career into in the world of multilateral affairs at both field and headquarters levels. Kaag led the OPCW-UN Joint Mission to eliminate the declared chemical weapons program of the Syrian Arab Republic from 2013 to 2014. She also served in Lebanon from 2015-2017 as the UN envoy.

In 2017, Kaag was asked to serve as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and Minister of Foreign Affairs for the cabinet Rutter III. In 2020 she became party leader of D66, and in the Rutte IV cabinet, she served as Deputy Prime Minister and the first female Minister of Finance.  Kaag left politics in January 2024 and returned to working on international affairs in the Middle East.

Peace, security, and justice have always been Kaag’s driving forces. In late 2023 she was appointed Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for the UN in Gaza. Later, she also became the UN envoy for the Middle East Peace Process. In this role, she advocated for peace and security in the Middle East, but also recognized how difficult the two-state solution had become following years of political deadlock and the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

During the Nexus Conference 2025 she called the war in Gaza ‘a stain on our shared humanity’. She urges the international community not to view the war in Gaza solely as a humanitarian crisis, but to recognize that political will is needed to achieve a sustainable solution. In early 2026 she joined the Gaza Executive Board, established by Security Council Resolution 2803, as an independent member.