Maria Isabel Cobos
Chief of Social and Gender Statistics Section, United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)
Maria Isabel Cobos leads the programme on social and gender statistics of UNSD. She joined the UN over 17 years ago, being posted at HQ and ECLAC. Her UN career encompasses coordinating the UN Statistical Commission, and supporting countries in various statistical fields, notably international migration, gender equality, time-use, civil registration, vital statistics and legal identity systems, population estimates and projections, and maternal mortality. She also takes interest in early fertility, and ageing. She has (co) authored a number of chapters, working papers and articles.
Before UN life, she worked at ING on life and health insurance, at a governmental agency and held a research position at the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute. Maria Isabel got her post-grad degrees in social statistics from the University of Southampton, UK, and her first degree was in Actuarial Maths.
As a proper Mexican, she is a foodie, loves music and dancing, and thoroughly enjoys friendly human interaction.