New Director General of the GRÓ Centre

Ambassador María Erla Marelsdóttir has taken over from Nína Björk Jónsdóttir as Director General of GRÓ—Centre for Capacity Development, Sustainability and Societal Change. GRÓ operates under the auspices of UNESCO and operates four training programmes on sustainable fisheries, gender equality, geothermal energy and land restoration. These four areas were vital in Iceland’s own journey from poverty to prosperity.

Ambassador María Erla is a senior Icelandic diplomat with a distinguished career spanning international development cooperation, sustainable development, diplomacy, and international relations. She has worked extensively to strengthen Iceland’s international partnership and engagement, particularly in the field of development cooperation.

She served as Director General at the Directorate for Development Cooperation at the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs where she provided strategic leadership on Iceland’s development cooperation policy and international development engagement. Her diplomatic career has included extensive work with partner countries and international institutions, with particular focus on cooperation in Africa and other developing countries. She has served as a non-resident Ambassador to countries such as Malawi, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, and the State of Palestine, as well as to the Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia and Poland. She was also the first women to hold a position as Ambassador of Iceland to Germany. María also served as Ambassador for Climate Change and Energy where her work complemented her long standing engagement with sustainable development and international cooperation.

María Erla holds a law degree from the University of Iceland and a Master of European Law from Stockholm University. Her career reflects a sustained commitment to international development cooperation, sustainable development, multilateral engagement, and building effective partnerships between Iceland and the international community.