Sarah Hendriks

Sarah Hendriks serves as UN Women’s Director of the Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Support Division (PPID). In this role, she drives UN Women as a global thought and practice leader through cutting-edge policy analysis, strategic guidance to field programming and intergovernmental support to normative advancements for gender equality. Since August 2024, she also serves as Head of Secretariat for the UN Secretary-General’s Gender Equality Acceleration Plan. She has over two decades of work across multistakeholder partners, including with government, public sector, foundations, NGOs and research institutions. Prior to joining UN Women, Ms. Hendriks served as the Director, Gender Equality, Global Growth & Opportunity at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (2015-2019), developing the Foundation’s first-ever strategy on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, and as the Global Advisor on Gender Equality and HIV/AIDS at Plan International Canada (2005-2010), leading the Canadian Government’s coordinated investment on HIV/AIDS and youth in Africa.