Nienke M. Dekens

Nienke M. Dekens has extensive experience in international relations and foreign policy, currently serving as Private Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development and Senior Policy Officer in the Europe Department at the Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken since September 2021. Previously, Nienke held roles at the Ministerie van Financiën as Inspecteur bij Inspectie der Rijksfinanciën and as Second Secretary at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Egypt. Earlier positions include Policy Officer in the Department of Stabilisation and Humanitarian Aid, Assistant Defence Attache at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in South Africa, and various internships at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Dutch Refugee Council. Nienke holds a Master's degree in International Humanitarian Action from Uppsala University and a Bachelor's degree in International Relations and International Organisations from the University of Groningen, complemented by an Erasmus exchange programme at the University of Strathclyde.