Tatiana Molcean

Tatiana Molcean (born 25 September 1982) is a Moldovan diplomat. She has been Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) since 2023.

Early life and education Molcean was born on 25 September 1982 in Chișinău and is from a family of economists. She studied an LLM degree at the Faculty of International Law, Moldova State University. After graduating, she completed the multilateral diplomacy programme at the Geneva Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland.

Career

Early career From 2004 to 2008 Molclean was Head of the Division for Economic Cooperation and Sectorial Coordination at the General Directorate for European Integration. During this period, on 5 October 2021 Molcean was appointed President of the General Assembly of the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

On 26 July 2023, Molcean was appointed the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In November 2023, she addressed the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, on the transit potential of the region. In 2023, she also commented that international climate change conventions, like the Paris Agreement, should be considered in planning to "promote carbon neutrality and accelerating energy transition."

In February 2024, Molcean supported the establishment of the world's first United Nations backed centre for circular economy research, which is based in the United Kingdom. In June 2024, Molcean visited Kyiv, Ukraine, to discuss UNECE support for Ukrainian socio-economic and environmental recovery from the Russo-Ukraine War ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, Germany, and the UN4UkrainianCities project.

In October 2024, Molcean moderated the fourth UN Forum of Mayors in Geneva, highlighting how mayors are at the frontline of many global issues and have the ability to contribute to the multilateral agenda. In November 2024, Molcean addressed the SPECA Summit in Tajikistan. In April 2025, Molcean addressed the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development 2025 at the UN in Geneva alongside the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, Amina J. Mohammed, and the United Nations Development Programme Regional Director for Europe, Ivana Živković. She also attended the International Climate Forum in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Molcean has supported the International Gender Champions pledges against gender-based violence and for gender parity. She has also encouraged member states of the United Nations to join the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (known as the Water Convention).

Alongside diplomacy, Molcean has promoted Moldovan cultural heritage, including organising an exhibition of traditional Moldovan hand-woven carpets at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.