Tom Arnold (economist)

Born in 1948,[1] Arnold has a degree in agricultural economics from University College Dublin, an MBA from the Université catholique de Louvain, and a master's in strategic management from Trinity College Dublin.[2]

As a civil servant, he worked in the Department of Agriculture, latterly as chief economist (1988–1993) and assistant secretary general (1993–2001),[3] where he supervised Ireland's implementation of the EU's Single Payment Scheme.

He has been a director of The Irish Times Limited since July 2010.[4]

Arnold served as Chief Executive Officer of Concern Worldwide, Ireland's largest humanitarian aid agency, from October 2001 to February 2013.[2] Arnold holds the position of Concern's Special Representative for Hunger.[5]

In October 2012, Arnold was appointed chairman of the Constitutional Convention by Taoiseach Enda Kenny.[6] In that position, in 2013 he advocated for allowing Irish overseas to vote in elections.[7]

In November 2013, Arnold took up the appointment as Director General of the Institute of International and European Affairs.[8]

In August 2014, Arnold accepted a request from the UN to coordinate the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement [9] (SUN Movement), which brings together governments, civil society and the private sector, to improve nutrition at national and international level. The request was made following the appointment by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of Dr David Nabarro, the current Coordinator of the SUN Movement, to be the UN System Senior Coordinator of the Response to the Ebola Virus Disease. In Dr Nabarro’s absence as SUN Coordinator, Arnold was to provide strategic leadership to the SUN Movement, working closely with the existing SUN Networks and the SUN Secretariat, based in Geneva. The appointment was for a six-month period, starting 1 September 2014.

In July 2015, he was named a panel member of the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition.[10]

In May 2018 , Arnold was appointed Chair of Task Force Rural Africa, a joint effort of the EU and the African Union to improve Africa's food production. The body was tasked with producing recommendations by the end of the year.[11]

He is Chair of a Task Force on Rural Africa. He was previously Director General of the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA).[12]

He has published op-eds opposing aid cuts that would reduce the Irish Government's humanitarian response to world starvation.[13] He has also advocated making nutrition a central part of foreign policy.[14]

Arnold has presided (as chair, coordinator, director general, etc.) over:-

• The Irish Times Trust.[15]
• Mary Robinson Foundation from Climate Justice.[16]
• The Irish Times group's governing board and trust.[17]
• the Irish Council of the European Movement (1991–1993);[18]
• EuronAid, a food security NGO network, (1992–1996);[19]
• the OECD's agriculture committee (1993–1998).[20]
• The Institute of International and European Affairs, an Irish think-tank
• The United Nations Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement[21]

He has been a member of:-

• Mary Robinson Foundation board[16]
• Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research consortium board [22]
• Central Emergency Response Fund advisory board[23]
• International Food Policy Research Institute advisory council[24]

Arnold received honorary doctorates from the National University of Ireland in 2009[25] and University College Dublin in 2010,[26] and a People of the Year Award in 2013.[27] In May 2014, he was awarded the Helen Keller International Humanitarian Award.[28]