Natalia Winder Rossi: Social Development Expert and UNICEF’s New Representative in Egypt
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has appointed Ms. Natalia Winder Rossi as its new representative in Egypt. She brings with her over twenty years of international experience in areas including child poverty reduction, social policy, social protection, and public finance management for the benefit of children.
Winder Rossi, originally from Peru, previously served as Director of Social Policy and Social Protection at UNICEF’s headquarters in New York. In that role, she led the organization’s global agenda to reduce child poverty, expand social protection programs, support humanitarian cash transfers, promote child-friendly urban development, and strengthen local governance.
She also led the global social protection team at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome and worked as a Senior Advisor on rural poverty, resilience, and humanitarian action. In Africa, she left a strong mark through her work at UNICEF’s Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa, where she provided technical support to 24 countries and helped strengthen strategic partnerships and social protection programs responsive to HIV-related challenges.
Her career includes other influential positions, such as Senior Social Protection Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank, where she focused on education and Indigenous communities. She also contributed to the Organization of American States and several development agencies and civil society organizations.
Winder Rossi holds two master’s degrees. The first is in Foreign Service with a focus on international development from Georgetown University, and the second is in Social Policy with a focus on research and evaluation from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has also co-authored several specialized publications, most notably “From Evidence to Action: The Story of Cash Transfer Impact Evaluation in Sub-Saharan Africa”, published by Oxford University Press.
As UNICEF’s representative in Egypt, Winder Rossi continues to work to protect children’s rights, strengthen social protection systems, and support sustainable and inclusive development to help ensure a better future for every child in Egypt.
