Steve Utterwulghe is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the Global Economy Section. He is the Director of Partnerships at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), based in New York. He leads UNDP’s global resource mobilization strategy and strategic partnerships with Member States, international financial institutions, the private sector, and philanthropic foundations. He also oversees UNDP’s engagement across the UN system—interagency and intergovernmental coordination, including the organization’s governance body—and coordinates the network of UNDP Representation Offices in Brussels, Geneva, Tokyo, Washington D.C., Berlin, Doha, and the Nordic countries. Previously, Steve served as UNDP Resident Representative in Tunisia during the country’s democratic transition, leading an international team of 150 personnel working on governance, economic growth, climate adaptation, and sustainable finance.
Before joining UNDP, he was the Global Lead for Public-Private Dialogue at the World Bank Group (IFC), where he advised around 30 governments and the private sector on multi-stakeholder engagement mechanisms to strengthen investment climate and improve the business environment. Earlier in his career, Steve held senior roles at the United Nations in Geneva (International Trade Centre) and in Sudan with the Office of the UN Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General. He also worked at the European Commission (INTPA) in Brussels and served as Vice President for International Development, Global Affairs, and Partnerships at Search for Common Ground (SFCG), the world’s largest NGO in the field of fragility, crisis response, and sustainable business—nominated for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. Steve has lived and worked in nine countries, including conflict-affected contexts such as Angola and Sudan, and has provided advisory support in numerous fragile states across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. His work has been published by the World Bank Group and UNDP, as well as in academic journals (Oxford University Press) and international policy outlets. He has been a guest lecturer at Columbia University, Tokyo University, Korea University, the University of Kentucky, IHEC Tunis, and Georgetown University. Steve holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics, and a dual postgraduate degree from Tilburg University (Netherlands) and the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium). He completed executive studies in Sustainable Business Leadership at Cambridge University and Management at Harvard University. He is fluent in French, English, and Portuguese, and conversant in Spanish, Italian, and Dutch.