Alexander De Croo, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator and United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General, will be on official mission to Jamaica, 5 to 6 March to visit hurricane Melissa impacted communities and to engage in crisis resilience and hurricane recovery talks with government and private sector partners.

De Croo, former Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Belgium, is expected to meet members of the Jamaican Cabinet including Prime Minister, Dr. The Most Honourable Andrew Holness; Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; Honourable Delroy Chuck, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs; Honourable Matthew Samuda, Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change; and Senator the Honourable Aubyn Hill, Minister of Industry Investment and Commerce. He will also headline the Thought Leaders Dialogue on Private Sector and Sustainable Finance Partnerships for Resilient Recovery with a number of CEOs and finance sector leaders, and a panel discussion with academia, civil society and youth on Small Island Developing States and The Future of Development.

This visit reasserts UNDP’s solidarity with Jamaica’s Hurricane Melissa recovery agenda through UNDP’s Resilient Recovery Offer and is an opportunity to secure first hand assessments of impact by engaging with community members and partners of this ongoing cooperation. 

De Croo's visit to Jamaica is his first since assuming the Office of Administrator on 2 December 2025. As Administrator, he leads a worldwide team of more 20,000 personnel across 170 countries and territories and will preside over a new global Strategic Plan 2026 to 2029. UNDP is the UN’s lead agency on international development with a global mission dedicated to helping countries eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities, and build resilience so people and nations can sustain progress.

Before his appointment as Administrator, De Croo served as Prime Minister of Belgium from 2020 to 2025. His tenure included crisis management during the COVID-19 pandemic, the coordination of Belgium’s vaccination rollout and economic recovery strategies, and Belgium's presidency of the Council of the European Union. Before becoming Prime Minister, Mr. De Croo served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2012 to 2020, as Minister of Development Cooperation and Digital Agenda from 2014 to 2020 and as Minister of Finance from 2018 to 2020. A steadfast advocate for strong international cooperation, he played a leading role in advancing international development, championed gender equality and digital innovation as drivers of progress and actively supported humanitarian relief efforts in times of crisis.  

Before entering public life, De Croo worked in the private sector as an entrepreneur and strategy advisor. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago and a degree in business engineering from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management. He is fluent in English, French and Dutch.