33 Facts About Sigrid Kaag

Sigrid Kaag was Leader of the Democrats 66 from 2020 to 2023.

Sigrid Kaag was Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa for UNICEF in Amman from 2007 to May 2010, when she was appointed Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau of External Relations of the UNDP in New York City.

From January 2015 to October 2017, Sigrid Kaag was the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon.

Sigrid Kaag entered Dutch politics in 2017 as minister for foreign trade and development cooperation in the third Rutte cabinet on behalf of D66.

Sigrid Kaag ascended to party leadership ahead of the 2021 general election and served for some months as minister of foreign affairs.

Sigrid Kaag decided not to run for re-election in 2023 and was succeeded by Rob Jetten as party leader.

Sigrid Kaag resigned as minister in January 2024 to return to the United Nations as senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza.

Sigrid Kaag's father, who was a classical pianist and music teacher, was originally from Wervershoof, while her mother, a primary school teacher, was from Arnhem.

Sigrid Kaag received foreign relations training at the Clingendael Institute in The Hague, and studied at the French Ecole nationale d'administration.

Sigrid Kaag began her professional career in 1988 as an analyst for Royal Dutch Shell in London, United Kingdom.

Sigrid Kaag started working for the United Nations in 1994 and first served as Senior United Nations Adviser in the Office of the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Khartoum, Sudan.

From 2007 to May 2010, Sigrid Kaag was Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa for UNICEF in Amman.

Sigrid Kaag led a team of one hundred experts who were responsible for ensuring the elimination of Syria's chemical weapon stockpiles before 30 June 2014.

On 1 December 2014, the UN Secretary-General Ban announced that Sigrid Kaag would become the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, succeeding Sir Derek Plumbly.

In early 2017, Sigrid Kaag was considered by international media to be one of the candidates to succeed Helen Clark as Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and head of the United Nations Development Group; the post eventually went to Achim Steiner.

Sigrid Kaag was installed as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation on 26 October 2017.

Sigrid Kaag was consequently the first female Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Sigrid Kaag was replaced by Stef Blok as foreign minister on 7 March 2018.

On 21 June 2020, Sigrid Kaag announced her candidacy for lijsttrekkerschap of the Democrats 66 for the 2021 general election, with the ambition of becoming the Netherlands' first female prime minister.

Sigrid Kaag was elected as party leader on 4 September 2020, making her the second female party leader of D66 after Els Borst in 1998.

Sigrid Kaag joined the House of Representatives as the party's parliamentary leader on 31 March 2021.

Sigrid Kaag combined this position with her position as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation until 10 August 2021.

On 12 July 2023, five days after the collapse of the fourth Rutte cabinet, Sigrid Kaag announced in an interview in Trouw that she would not lead D66 into the 2023 general election, due to the impact of the "hate, intimidation and threats" her family was receiving.

Sigrid Kaag became tearful in a May 2023 College Tour interview, when she was shown a video message from one of her daughters asking her to leave her job because of the threats.

On 8 January 2024, Sigrid Kaag became UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza.

Sigrid Kaag's appointment was the result of the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution to boost humanitarian aid in response to the Gaza war, which had been ongoing since the 2023 October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel and which had resulted in a siege of Gaza by Israel with significant civilian casualties and destruction as well as scarcity of resources.

The UN tasked Sigrid Kaag with "facilitat[ing], coordinat[ing], monitor[ing] and verify[ing] humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza" and with establishing a UN mechanism to accelerate aid deliveries "through states which are not party to the conflict".

Sigrid Kaag left the fourth Rutte cabinet before the end of her term, and she was named an honorary member of D66 at a November 2024 party convention.

When Tor Wennesland left the United Nations, Sigrid Kaag took over his position as Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and as Personal Representative of the Secretary-General to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority on 17 January 2025, days after Israel and Hamas agreed to a three-phase ceasefire deal.

Sigrid Kaag fulfills both roles in an acting capacity next to her role as humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator.

Sigrid Kaag's husband, Anis al-Qaq, is a dentist and a Palestinian national from Jerusalem who served as a deputy minister under Yasser Arafat in the 1990s and as the Palestinian representative to Switzerland.

Sigrid Kaag is a noted polyglot and speaks six languages: Dutch, English, French, Spanish, German and Arabic.

Sigrid Kaag was raised Catholic and has mentioned that she practices the religion without following all of its rituals.