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New strategic and managerial leadership at UNICRI

Ms. Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas

Turin -

Ms. Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas

A senior level official with many years of experience in international organizations and the private sector, Ms. Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas, will lead the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI). The new Director a.i. of UNICRI brings to the Institute a wealth of senior-level experience in the management of complex international organizations, with emphasis on strategic planning, programme design, budgeting and finance. Throughout her career she has held leadership positions in various international organizations covering normative, development, humanitarian, and peace and security matters.

At the time of her appointment as Director a.i. UNICRI, Ms. Bartsiotas was Assistant Secretary-General, Controller of the United Nations Secretariat. In that role, she provided high level policy guidance on budgetary and financial issues, overseeing the development and implementation of the UN regular and peacekeeping budgets, ensuring the accuracy of the organization’s financial statements, and the effective delivery of payments, payroll and treasury functions. She was responsible for presenting and deliberating with Members States on UN matters with programmatic, budgetary and financial implications.

From 1994 to 2014, Ms. Bartsiotas held various senior management positions at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna (Austria), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), New York. Previously she held positions in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), Washington, D.C. Ms. Bartsiotas has helped defining the strategy and direction of the International Public-Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and was involved in the planning and implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, as well as bringing management improvements to the organizations she served.

This appointment comes during an important phase of the history of UNICRI. With 50 years of experience, the Institute has started positioning itself in new critical areas of work to address emerging challenges in the field of crime prevention and justice. New and solid managerial and leadership models are essential to complete an important cycle that will further expand the potential and effectiveness of the Institute.

“Our rapidly changing and hyperconnected world faces serious transnational challenges: conflicts, organized crime, terrorism, illicit trafficking and the improper use of advances in technologies. Our social, economic and judicial systems are more fragile than ever with millions of people deprived of their basic rights and for whom peace, development and justice are just elusive concepts.” stated Ms. Bartsiotas, adding that “Now more than ever our answers to the challenges must be unified, multifaceted, innovative and based on strong synergies.”

Commenting on her nomination she said: “I am very excited to be joining UNICRI at an important time, when research, training, field activities and the collection, exchange and dissemination on information in the field of crime prevention and control are key to ensure peace, security and sustainable development. I am happy to be working in this beautiful international crossroad that is the UN Campus in Turin (Italy). She added: “UNICRI reduces the distance between sectors and expertise and designs affordable and transferable measures to maximise the impact of the international response in the field of crime prevention and justice. I will make the most of the Institute’s unicity by expanding the platform of our partners and enhancing innovation in tackling the different criminal phenomena to support the achievement of the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We have the tools and strength to move beyond the strict traditional crime prevention and justice paradigms, to deliver context-specific answers based on concrete needs and citizen-centric approaches, while in parallel strengthening the global framework. Only when single parts come together you can achieve equality, cohesion, sustainable development and lasting peace.”