Module 10 Session 2 Materials
Mr. Alex Mejia,
Division Director at United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and former Vice Minister of Economy for the Republic of Ecuador
Mr. Alexander Mejia is a career international civil servant who has been working at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) since 2004. He has been based in Geneva since 2012 as the Director of UNITAR’s Division for People and Social Inclusion. Within the Division, he leads UNITAR’s Social Development Programme (SDP). Before these posts in Switzerland, Mr. Mejia served for three years as Director of UNITAR’s Hiroshima Office in Japan, and for four years as Director of UNITAR’s CIFAL training centre in Atlanta, USA.
In his current capacity, he is also responsible for UNITAR’s Nigeria Project Office. Mr. Mejia is a citizen of Ecuador, and his career spans three decades in private and public organizations. He started his professional career in 1992, working in corporate banking in Latin America for six years. In 1998, he joined his country’s foreign service as a diplomat, serving as Counsellor at the Ecuadorian Embassy in Bogota, Colombia. In 2001, he became Vice Minister of Economy for the Republic of Ecuador. During this period, he served as an Alternate Governor to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank. Mr. Mejia has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Ecuador’s Central Bank. From 2003 to 2005, he worked in Washington, DC, as the Director of the Inter-American Council’s Andean Program, an entity chartered by the Organization of American States. Mr. Mejia holds a master’s degree in international relations from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a master’s degree in business administration from INCAE University in Costa Rica. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from Zamorano University in Honduras. Mr. Mejia is a graduate of Ecuador’s Admiral Illingworth Naval Academy. He is the recipient of the National Order of Merit of the Republic of Ecuador. Established on 8 October 1921, this is the highest decoration awarded by the country.
