Sir Mark Lowcock

Sir Mark is a Distinguished Non-resident Fellow at the Centre for Global Development. Between 2017 and 2021 Sir Mark was UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator where he chaired the Inter-Agency Standing Committee. From 2011-17 he was the Permanent Secretary at DFID where he supervised a 40% growth in Britain’s aid budget.

Prior to that Sir Mark served in three Director General posts in DFID, covering Corporate Performance and Knowledge Management from 2003 to 2006, Policy and International from 2006 to 2008 and Country Programmes from 2008 to 2011. He is now an adviser to WHO and IMF and chairs a large Multi Academy Trust in the UK.

Sir Mark brings a wealth of experience in government as well as international experience to the NHS, which includes supporting dramatic improvements in life expectancy in Africa and South Asia and coordinating UN humanitarian assistance in countries across the world affected by natural disaster and conflict.

Throughout his career, Sir Mark has held senior strategic leadership roles in large and complex organisations.

In addition to his previous roles in government and the UN, he is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the University of London and a member of the World Health Organization Global Preparedness Monitoring Board. A finance professional by background, he is the Vice President of the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and will take on the position of President of CIPFA from July 2025.