World Wildlife Fund Announces First Ombuds

After a search that opened in July 2019, Gina Barbieri has been selected as the first Ombudsperson for the global conservation network. Barbieri will start her duties in August 2021 and her first task will be defining the standards for the office. She will report directly to the President of WWF International with support from the International Board subcommittee and have complete independence from the executive both from a reporting and budgetary perspective.

A South African national, Barbieri has two decades of experience in resolving environmental and social conflicts, most recently as the Principal Ombudsman for the World Bank Group's Compliance Advisor Ombudsman. (The CAO provides dispute resolution services to people affected by WBG's projects, investigations of social and environmental performance, and provides independent advice to the WBG leadership.) Barbieri has worked for the CAO for nearly a decade and managed dispute resolution operations from their offices in Washington, DC. She is a co-founder of the African Institute for Mediation and sat on the steering committee for the establishment of the African Mediation Association. Barbieri graduated from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She is an accredited international mediator with CEDR and IMI. (WWF News; LinkedIn.)

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