SIAP Welcomes Jessamyn Encarnacion as New Director

The United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) has entered a new chapter in its leadership, with Ms. Jessamyn Encarnacion assuming her functions as Director on 1 October 2026, succeeding Ms. Shailja Sharma.

SIAP extends its sincere appreciation to Ms. Sharma for her leadership and dedicated service to the Institute. During her tenure, she contributed to strengthening SIAP’s role in statistical training and capacity development and to supporting national statistical systems across Asia and the Pacific. SIAP warmly thanks her for her service and wishes her all the best in the future.

Ms. Encarnacion, a national of the Philippines, brings 29 years of experience in official statistics, spanning national, regional and global work in statistical leadership, capacity development, policy and data.

Prior to joining SIAP as Director, she served with UN Women, where she held senior leadership and advisory roles in the Research and Data Section and led global statistical capacity development initiatives covering gender data, household surveys, time-use statistics, citizen data and statistical leadership. Since April 2026, she also served as Acting Chief Statistician and Deputy Chief a.i. of the Research and Data Section.

Ms. Encarnacion is also returning to familiar ground within ESCAP. She previously served as Regional Adviser on Statistics with ESCAP, providing technical assistance to member States and supporting regional statistical development programmes. She also served as a course lecturer at SIAP, where she co-designed and delivered training for official statisticians and supervised applied statistical research.

Before joining the United Nations system, Ms. Encarnacion held senior positions in the Philippine statistical system, including at the National Statistical Coordination Board and the Philippine Statistics Authority. Her responsibilities included leadership of national social statistics programmes and coordination of statistical activities across government institutions.

She holds a Master of Public Policy from Hitotsubashi University in Japan and a Bachelor of Science in Statistics from the University of the Philippines and undertook graduate studies in statistics at the University of the Philippines. She has authored and co-authored peer-reviewed articles, publications, and global statistical guidance products.

As Director, Ms. Encarnacion will lead SIAP in advancing its mandate to strengthen the capacity of national statistical systems across Asia and the Pacific, working closely with ESCAP divisions, member States and development partners to ensure that statistical training remains relevant, responsive and results-oriented.