Maimunah Sharif, Mayor of Penang Island, Malaysia, and an active member of the ICLEI Global Executive Committee, has been appointed as the next Executive Director of UN-Habitat, the United Nations program working towards a better urban future. This is the first time an active ICLEI leader is appointed to such a function.

“ICLEI has been a long-time partner of UN-Habitat, and today we are very proud to see one of our most active leaders appointed to the key position of Executive Director. This comes at a critical time when the UN is undergoing reforms and opening its doors more and more to cities and regions. We congratulate and wish Maimunah Sharif the best of luck in her new position and believe she will be able to bring forward the vision of a sustainable urban future that we share.” commented Gino Van Begin, ICLEI Secretary General. "Through this opportunity, we also would like to commend Dr. Joan Clos for his leadership to advance the work of UN-Habitat and convening of Habitat III in 2016 which concluded with the adoption of the New Urban Agenda."

In 2011, Maimunah Sharif has been the first women appointed to the post of Municipal President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai in Malaysia. In this function, she has worked towards aligning the vision of city to build a “cleaner, greener, safer and healthier Penang” and showed great commitment on sustainability including action on zero-waste, disaster risk reduction, gender equality though local participatory budgeting, and engaging with the youth.

Following her election as the representative of South East Asia at ICLEI Global Executive Committee announced at ICLEI World Congress in Seoul, Republic of Korea in April 2015, Maimunah Sharif has been a key representative of ICLEI at the global fora, in particular during the Habitat III process with the Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments.