Sigrid Kaag Dutch diplomat, politician and statesman Date of Birth: 02.11.1961 Country: Netherlands

1. Early Life and Education
2. Diplomatic and UN Career
3. Dutch Minister and Politician
4. Personal Life and Honors

Early Life and Education

Sigrid Kaag was born on November 2, 1961, in Rijswijk, Netherlands. The daughter of a classical pianist, she grew up in Zeist. Kaag pursued a degree in Arabic at Utrecht University before transferring to the American University in Cairo, where she earned a bachelor's degree in Middle Eastern Studies in 1985. She furthered her education with an MA in International Relations from St. Antony's College, Oxford University (1987) and an MPhil in Middle Eastern International Relations from the University of Exeter (1988). Kaag also attended the Clingendael Institute of International Relations in The Hague and the French National School of Administration (ENA).

Diplomatic and UN Career

After completing her studies, Kaag worked as an analyst for the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell in London. She later joined the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Deputy Head of the UN Political Affairs Department. During her diplomatic career, she lived and worked in Beirut, Vienna, and Khartoum.

In 1994, Kaag transitioned to the United Nations (UN), where she served as a Senior Adviser in the Office of the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict in Sudan. From 1998 to 2004, she was the Head of Donor Relations for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Senior Program Manager of the External Relations Bureau of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Jerusalem.

From 2007 to 2010, Kaag served as UNICEF's Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa based in Amman. In 2010, she became Assistant to Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in New York. From October 2013 to December 2014, she held the position of Special Coordinator for the Joint Mission of the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons program.

Dutch Minister and Politician

On October 26, 2017, Kaag was appointed Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation in the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the third Rutte cabinet. Following Halbe Zijlstra's resignation, she became Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs from February 13 to March 7, 2018. She was the first woman in Dutch history to head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On September 4, 2020, Kaag was elected leader of the Democrats 66 party, becoming the second woman to lead the party after Els Borst in 1998. Under her leadership, Democrats 66 won 24 seats in the 2021 parliamentary elections, their best result since 1994.

On May 25, 2021, Kaag was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, succeeding Stef Blok. However, she resigned on September 17 after the Dutch House of Representatives expressed its lack of confidence in her handling of the evacuation from Afghanistan following the fall of Kabul.

Kaag was elected to the Dutch House of Representatives in the 2021 parliamentary elections and became the party's parliamentary group leader. On January 10, 2022, she was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in the Fourth Rutte cabinet, a coalition government formed after the 2021 parliamentary elections.

Personal Life and Honors

Kaag is fluent in English, French, German, and Arabic. In 2014, she received an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree from the University of Exeter. In 2016, she was awarded the Wateler Peace Prize. Kaag is married to Anis al-Qaq, a Palestinian politician and diplomat, and has four children.