Biography

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Barbara Adams

Born and educated in England, Adams was trained as an economist.  She moved to Canada in 1973 and there served as Executive Director of the Manitoba Council for International Affairs from 1977 to 1979. Later, she worked as Associate Director of the Quaker United Nations Office in New York (1981-1988), where she worked with delegates, UN staff and NGOs on issues of economic and social justice, women, peace and human rights.   She later served as Deputy Coordinator of the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) and Director of its office at UN Headquarters in New York (dates).

During her careers she has served as a consultant to UNICEF, served on the board of directors for the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC) and has undertaken development work in Latin America, including on  housing and settlemt projects in Uruguay.

From 2003 to 2008 served as Chief of Strategic Partnerships and Communications for the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM, and worked with women's organizations on advancing gender equality in the macroecnomic and aid effectiveness policy arenas.

Adams has authored and co-authored many articles, reports and booklets on the United Nations. These include: Accounting for Africa at the United Nations: A Guide for Non-Governmental Organizations; Putting Gender on the Agenda: A Guide to Participating in UN World Conferences; a chapter in the book Ours by Right: Women's Human Rights, a chapter in the book Challenges to the United Nations: Building a safer world and a chapter in the book Civil Society in the Information Age.  She has also served as a keynote speaker and resource person at numerous UN, NGO and academic events and has attended many UN world conferences.

When not tackling global policy, she likes to disappear, with backpack in tow, to the other parts of the world or relax with a good book by the water. Recently, she has taken up sky-diving.