27 Facts About Ad Melkert

Ad Melkert worked as a political activist for the youth branch of the European Community in Brussels from July 1981 until March 1984 and as a nonprofit director for the charity Oxfam Novib from March 1984 until June 1986.

Shortly before an upcoming election Party Leader Wim Kok announced his retirement and Ad Melkert announced his candidacy to succeed him as Leader and was selected as his successor on 15 December 2001.

In October 2002 Ad Melkert was nominated as an executive director of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund serving until March 2006 when he was nominated as an Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme serving until July 2009 when he was appointed as the Special Representative for the United Nations in Iraq serving until his resignation in October 2011.

Ad Melkert continued to be active in politics and in December 2015 was nominated as a Member of the Council of State on 20 January 2016.

Ad Melkert became active in the private and public sectors as a corporate and non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government, and works as a trade association executive serving as Chairman of the Dutch Hospitals association since December 2018 and became a Member of the Social and Economic Council for the Industry and Employers confederation in April 2019.

Adrianus Petrus Wilhelmus Ad Melkert was born into a Roman Catholic middle-class family in Gouderak, a small village situated in the province of South Holland.

Ad Melkert attended a Roman Catholic primary school in Moordrecht until 1968, after which he continued his studies at the Coornhert Gymnasium in Gouda, a state school specialising in the arts.

Ad Melkert graduated in 1974 and went on to study political science at the University of Amsterdam.

Ad Melkert went on to become a member of the general board of the Dutch branch of the European Movement, the chairperson of the Council of European National Youth Committees and the chairperson of the Dutch Platform for International Youth Work.

Ad Melkert graduated in 1981 and received the Dutch Society for International Relations prize for best Master's thesis of 1981, the subject of which dealt with the foreign policy of the Den Uyl cabinet.

Ad Melkert was a member of the so-called, 'Blues' or 'Godebald' group of radicals, which favoured closer cooperation with the social-democrat Labour Party and the social-liberal Democrats 66 party.

Ad Melkert became a member of the board of the local PvdA branch.

In 1996 Ad Melkert was elected into the House of Representatives.

Ad Melkert was a member of the board of advisers of the Foundation for Communication on Development Cooperation, chairman of the Foundation for Development Cooperation Almere-Port Sudan, and vice-chairman of the Atlantic Committee.

In 1994 Ad Melkert became the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the first cabinet of Prime Minister, Wim Kok.

Ad Melkert held responsibility for one of its main goals, which, in the words of those who shaped the cabinet was: Employment, Employment, Employment.

Ad Melkert served as chair of the parliament's committee on Information and Security Services.

Steps were taken to redress the possibility of a negative, bureaucratic image and it was revealed that Ad Melkert was an avid follower of Feyenoord football club and enjoyed culinary pursuits: a cookbook was published on his personal website.

In May 2006 Ad Melkert revealed to politician-turned-television personality, Paul Rosenmoller, that perhaps by being too entrenched in the confines of the governmental tower, his demeanour had come across as somewhat patronising: something that did not appeal to the voter.

Ad Melkert's PvdA lost nearly half its seats, decreasing from 45 to 23 in the 150-seat House of Representatives.

Ad Melkert resigned as political leader on election night and was replaced by the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven.

In November 2002, Ad Melkert was appointed executive director of the World Bank.

In January 2006 Ad Melkert was appointed Associate Administrator of the UNDP.

In 2009 Ad Melkert was appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq.

Ad Melkert was a candidate to succeed Juan Somavia as Director-General of the International Labour Organization but lost to Guy Ryder.

Ad Melkert opposed merger plans, arguing that the focus of GroenLinks on climate change would deter moderate voters.

Ad Melkert said that the PvdA should win back working-class people, and he has supported Rood Vooruit, an initiative founded in 2023 that has been critical of a merger.