Outgoing Minister of Finance Sigrid Kaag (D66) will start working as Special Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for the United Nations in Gaza from January 2024. Kaag reports this on X. She will resign from her duties as minister on January 8 and will be replaced by fellow party member Rob Jetten, who is currently outgoing Minister of Climate and Energy.
“Last summer I already announced my departure from Dutch politics. This moment has come sooner than anticipated,” Kaag writes in a letter. She calls it an honor to be able to serve the Netherlands “in various political roles”. Kaag also discusses her new job. “Peace, security, and justice have always been my motivations,” she writes. In her role, she will focus on alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as a result of the war between Israel and Hamas. At least 21,000 Palestinians were killed in that war and nearly two million people were displaced.
Kaag said he was asked by António Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, for the position, which arose after the UN Security Council approved more humanitarian aid for the war zone on December 22. “I accepted this special assignment in the hope of contributing to a better future,” Kaag writes.
In a comment Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte calls Kaag’s new job “a crucial and demanding assignment.” On X, Rutte writes that he is convinced “that Sigrid Kaag brings the knowledge and experience to fulfill this task like no other.” The Prime Minister also thanks Kaag for “the close relationship we have had in the cabinet in recent years and for our good cooperation.”