Mark Lowcock

Sir Mark Andrew Lowcock[1] KCB (born 25 July 1962) is a British civil servant. Since June 2011, he has served as the Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Development (DFID).

On 12 May 2017, he was appointed United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator by Secretary-General António Guterres. He will assume this position in September 2017, and will succeed Stephen O’Brien who has served the United Nations since May 2015. [2]


Early life

Lowcock attended Culford School in Suffolk before attending Oxford University, where he graduated with a degree in Economics and History. He was later awarded a Master’s degree in Economics from Birkbeck College, University of London, before moving to Boston to study economics and business as a graduate fellow.[3] He is a qualified accountant and a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.[4]

Career

Lowcock joined DFID (formerly the Overseas Development Administration) in 1985, where he has occupied a diverse range of roles, including: • Private Secretary to Baroness Chalker, Minister for Overseas Development from 1992 to 1994 • Deputy Head and Head of the DFID Regional Office for Central Africa from 1994 to 1997 • Head of European Union Department from 1997 to 1999, before returning to Africa as Head of the DFID Regional Office for East Africa • Director, Finance and Corporate Performance, from 2001 to 2003 and Director General, Corporate Performance and Knowledge Sharing from 2003 to 2006 • Director General, Policy and International from 2006 to 2008 and Director General, Country Programmes from 2008 to 2011[5]

Lowcock was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Development on 9 June 2011.[6] He has made speeches on development, in Delhi (on the future of international development), Karachi (on how to get economic growth in a changing world), Berlin (on development agencies and conflict) and Addis Ababa (on economic development in Ethiopia).[7] As of 2015, Lowcock was paid a salary of between £160,000 and £164,999 by the department, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.[8]

Lowcock oversaw the Department during the period in which the UK increased its aid budget to 0.7% of Gross Domestic Product.[9] World leaders first pledged to meet the 0.7% target 35 years ago in a 1970 General Assembly Resolution.[10]

Personal life

In 1991, Lowcock married Julia Watson.[11] Together they have two sons and one daughter.[11]

Honours

In 2011, Lowcock was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).[11] In the 2017 New Year Honours, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) for public service, particularly to International Development.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "New Year's Honours list 2017" (PDF). Gov.uk. Government Digital Service. 30 December 2016. p. 5. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  2. ↑ "Secretary-General Apoints Mark Lowcock of United Kingdom Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency Relief Coordinator". United Nations.
  3. ↑ Chambers, Joshua (2 November 2011). Interview: Mark Lowcock. Civil Service World. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  4. ↑ Read, Dave (18 December 2012). Mark Lowcock: The Man with a Plan Public Finance International. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  5. ↑ Government biography. Permanent Secretary, Mark Lowcock, Biography. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  6. ↑ Government press release (9 June 2011). New top civil servant for DFID 28 January 2014.
  7. ↑ Government speech transcript (16 October 2012). The Future of International Development Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  8. ↑ "Senior officials 'high earners' salaries as at 30 September 2015 - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. 2015-12-17. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  9. ↑ Dudman, Jane (14 March 2013). 'On your bike: partnership and engagement at DfID – interview' The Guardian. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  10. ↑ UN Millennium Project. ‘The 0.7% target: An in-depth look’ Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  11. 1 2 3 "LOWCOCK, Mark Andrew". Who's Who 2017. Oxford University Press. November 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  12. ↑ "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N3.
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