Sofia Borges

Event 201 Players Sofia Borges Sofia Borges Sofia Borges is the UN Foundation’s Senior Vice President and Head of the New York office. In this role, she serves as chief liaison with United Nations leadership and the diplomatic community, working to identify new opportunities for building and deepening partnerships with a range of stakeholders, as well as overseeing initiatives with the private sector and managing engagement with other organizations. As a member of the UN Foundation leadership team, she also provides overall guidance and participates in the development of long-term strategy for the Foundation. Prior to joining the UN Foundation, Ms. Borges held the position of Deputy Chef de Cabinet to the President of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly and served in the Cabinet of the President of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly as Special Adviser on Strategic Engagement and Transparency. From 2002 to 2016, Ms. Borges held various positions at the Permanent Mission of Timor-Leste to the UN, including six years as Ambassador and Permanent Representative. She represented Timor-Leste through a critical peacekeeping to peacebuilding period, including its removal from the agenda of the UN Security Council. During this time, she also served as Chair of the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee) for the 69th session of the UN General Assembly and as a Vice President of the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly. She was the Chief Negotiator for Timor-Leste during the Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals (2013-14) and Chief Negotiator for Timor-Leste on the Post-2015 Inter-Governmental Negotiations on the SDGs (2014-15). She was also Chair of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (2014-2016) and Chair of the G7+ (2010-2014), a role which was critical in the negotiations on the 2030 Agenda. Additionally, Ms. Borges has served as a member of the Advisory Board for the UN Democracy Fund (2012-13) and as a member of the Executive Board of UN Women (2012-13). Prior to joining the foreign ministry, Ms. Borges worked both as an anthropologist at the Central Land Council in Australia, engaging with indigenous land owners in Central Australia on lands rights claims, and at the Asian Development Bank on issues surrounding post-conflict reconstruction in Timor-Leste. Ms. Borges holds degrees in anthropology, political science, and law from the Australian National University, Canberra, and Northern Territory University, Darwin. She speaks Tetum, English, and Portuguese.