Dr Ania Grobicki appointed Deputy Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

Gland 11 March 2015

Dr. Ania Grobicki has been appointed Deputy Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands she replaces Dr. Nick Davidson who held the position from 2000 to 2014 .  She joins the Secretariat from the Global Water Partnership, where she was the Executive Secretary, managing the world-wide multi-stakeholder network and its global secretariat, based in Sweden, from 2009 until her appointment to Ramsar.

A South African and Polish national, Dr. Grobicki took up her new role on 9 March 2015 and will support the Secretary General, Dr. Christopher Briggs to manage the Convention’ s Scientific and Technical Review Panel and the regional teams. She will also provide advice on global policy, developmental, technical and scientific issues related to the implementation of the Convention.

“We are very pleased with the appointment of Ania,” said Dr. Christopher Briggs, Secretary General, and Ramsar Convention. “She brings with her extensive knowledge in the area of water policy development and implementation which will greatly enrich the Secretariat and the parties.”  

“Thank you very much for the warm welcome,” said Ania Grobicki.  “2015 is a very important year for Ramsar as we head to Uruguay for COP12 from 1-9 June 2015, and together with the 168 Ramsar countries agree on a new strategic direction that will reverse wetland losses. As water security comes to the fore of global discourse, so wetlands and their value in buffering society against floods and droughts, the key impacts of climate change, will be increasingly appreciated.  The summit on the Sustainable Development Goals in New York and the UNFCCC COP21 in Paris later this year will also be key turning points in our common search for sustainability. I therefore feel very privileged to be joining the Secretariat at this moment and look forward to joining hands with all to accomplish this mission.“

Dr. Grobicki has been deeply involved in the stakeholder consultations and negotiations in the run-up to establishing the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular the global water goal. 

She has extensive knowledge and experience on water issues including the water needs for cities, industry, agriculture and energy.  Between 1996 and 2001 she led projects on urban catchment management and the restoration of urban wetlands, in and around Cape Town, South Africa. She was also the Coordinator for the African National Congress’s Science and Technology Group in South Africa and lectured at the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Cape Town.

In 2002-2003 she led the CGIAR Challenge Programme on Water and Food as its first Co-ordinator, based at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Sri Lanka and thereafter in 2004 moved to the World Health Organization in Switzerland as Head of Secretariat for a multi-stakeholder forum on strengthening research for health, focusing upon developing the research-policy interface.  A prolific writer of books and papers, Dr. Grobicki was the author of two chapters for the 2nd World Water Development Report.

Dr Ania Grobicki has degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cape Town and in Economics from the University of South Africa, together with a PhD in Biotechnology from Imperial College, London.  She is married with two children.