Deputy Executive Director (Programme) ad interim

Mr. Pio Smith is the Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director - Programme (DED-P) ad interim of UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health and rights agency. 

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Smith served as UNFPA’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director, leading the agency’s work across 36 countries in the world’s most populous and diverse region, advancing health, rights, and gender equality, while addressing humanitarian responses and population megatrends such as ageing, migration and demographic resilience.

With 20 years of experience across the United Nations system, Mr. Smith has played a key role in advancing global development, governance and multilateral cooperation. As Chief of Staff at UNFPA Headquarters in New York, he provided strategic leadership and oversight to the organization. He also held senior leadership roles in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, serving as Special Assistant to two UN Deputy Secretaries-General and Chief of Staff to the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Post-2015 Development Planning, where he helped shape and negotiate the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Mr. Smith began his career in the UK public sector, working on regulatory reform at the Home Office and European policy at a UK Regional Assembly. He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Dublin City University and a Bachelor’s in Foreign Languages from Queen’s University Belfast. 

A long-standing champion of human rights, equity and inclusive development, Mr. Smith is deeply committed to ensuring that women and young people have access to the opportunities, resources and choices they need to thrive. In particular, he is a fierce advocate for the rights of people living with disabilities and previously volunteered for 15 years in a private capacity with local organizations in his native Northern Ireland. 

A national of Ireland, Mr. Smith is married with four children.