Ms. Haiyan Qian

IMG_7544 Ms. Haiyan Qian, devoted wife, loving mother, and dedicated International Civil Servant for the United Nations, died on the morning of 18 February 2013 at the age of 57 after a heroic battle with cancer.

During the past 33 years, Ms. Qian dedicated her career to global public policy, governance, public administration and development. Since joining the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Ms. Qian has served as Chief Manager of the United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN),  Chief of the e-Government Branch (formerly known as Knowledge Management Branch) before becoming the Director of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) on 1 February 2009. Prior to joining UNDESA, Ms. Qian worked for other United Nations agencies, such as the Centre for Science and Technology for Development and UNEP’s Centre on Environmentally Sound Technology in Japan. Before joining the United Nations, Ms. Qian worked for  the Chinese Government in the area of science and technology for development and served in the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations based in New York, covering the United Nations Second Committee on Economic and Social Affairs.

At the United Nations, Ms. Qian has left behind a legacy founded on hard work, dedicated service and loyalty. Ms. Qian was a visionary leader that was admired and respected by all her colleagues and others in the field of public administration around the world.

Ms. Qian received her Bachelor of Arts in Beijing, China and her Master in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA.

[click here to read this text in Chinese]

[click here to read the thank you letter from Ms. Haiyan Qian’s family]

332 Responses

  1. Kee Zhang
    Kee Zhang
    at · Reply

    Haiyan Qian, what a great woman! So sad to lose her. She is always a big sister to us and she shall be always at our heart. Deepest condolence to her from my wife and myself, Beihua Wang and his family, Zhengtian Chen and his family. Haiyan Qian, we love you and you shall be missed by all of us.

  2. Dimitri Vlassis, UNODC
    at · Reply

    It was with profound sadness and great pain that I received the news of Haiyan’s untimely passing. Haiyan was an asset to the United Nations and a treasure to her friends. She will be sorely missed by both. My prayers and those of my colleagues here in Vienna who had the honour of knowing her are with her family and loved ones.

  3. Danfei Gao
    Danfei Gao
    at · Reply

    Qian Haiyan is known to us as Qian Xiaoping. She is my elder sister’s pal and classmate. We lived and grew up together in a big compound in Beijing. It is so shocked for all of us here in Beijing to learn the loss of a dear friend, a role model for us younger kids in our compound and a most valued asset for the UN. To her over-80-year-old mother who we all know, it’s no doubt an even bigger blow! Wish her soul lie in peace in the heaven!

  4. Jessie Hou
    Jessie Hou
    at · Reply

    It is with a deep sense of grief that we learned the loss of our beloved Director, Ms. Haiyan. Here, the staff in Institute of Information, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and UNPAN-AP Editorial Department are surrounded by a scent of great sorrow and pity!

    We have the privilege of knowing Ms. Haiyan since RCOCI became a member of the United Nations Public Administration Network in 2001, and all of us were deeply impressed by Ms. Qian’s fascinating passion for life and dedication to the lofty cause of UNPAN. Since she served as Chief Manager of UNPAN, she has devoted all her life to improving the public services and administration all around the world through her continuous commitment and hard work to the vision. We can’t forget she came to our institute two years ago, and through her splendid speech, was regarded as an honest, respectable lady with great humour and of course, a wise leader.

    Under the guidance of her determined and effective direction to RCOCI, UNPAN-AP Editorial Department has achieved success in the past ten years. All the team members in Institute of Information, SASS, and those of UNPAN-AP Editorial Department, convey our greatest condolences and sympathy to Ms. Qian’s family and the whole UNPAN colleagues.

    To pay tributes to our beloved Ms. Qian, UNPAN-AP Editorial Department will continually support UNPAN through our persistent hard work and closer cooperation. And she will be deadly missed by all of us!

    Sincerely,
    Institute of Information, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences
    UNPAN-AP Editorial Department

  5. gaodan
    gaodan
    at · Reply

    亲爱的海燕,我们的发小姐妹,你这样匆匆离我们而去,让我们悲痛得难以接受!最近的一次见面是在2008年春节,你还是那样开朗健谈,活波的性格中透出更多的坚毅和自信以及对世界问题的高度使命感和责任感。你的离去让我们失去一位好朋友、好姐妹,让国家失去一位优秀的联合国工作机构的使者,让联合国这个大家庭失去一位好领导、好同事。你的音容笑貌永远铭刻在我们心中!愿你在天堂得到长久的安息!

  6. Yun Lai
    Yun Lai
    at · Reply

    I am so sorry to hear this sad news. I can still remember the time when she was introducing DPADM to us in the meeting room last summer, the time we met in the cafe and the time she talks in the Chinese performance of the Public Service Day. She was such a nice leader. It was a great time interning and learning at DPADM! May she rest in peace!

  7. Yuan Yue
    Yuan Yue
    at · Reply

    I am so sorry and shocked to hear the passing away of Ms. Qian Haiyan. I met her two times and the last time was during the IGF in Baku last year. She was very warmhearted and helpful. We will miss her.

  8. Prof. LIU Chuang, www.geomuseum.cn
    Prof. LIU Chuang, www.geomuseum.cn
    at · Reply

    It was shaked me, how I can believe she passed away, sicne I met her in Novermber 2012 in Baku, the 7th IGF!

    Haiyan was one of my close friends. Experiences in the meeting of Geneva, Tunis, USA, Brazil, Malasia, Indian, Egypt, China duirng the last more than ten years, we enjoy the discussions on open knowledge environment not only in scientific communty but all of the socieity. She dedicated herself to the UNPAN network for public services. So many helps from her which made me success in many ways.

    I miss her and I sincerely wish her peace with love from all of us forever!

    Prof.LIU Chuang
    http://www.geomuseum.cn
    Institute of Geography and Natural Resources
    Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Co-Chair, Global Alliance for Enhancing Access to and Application of Scientific Data in Developing Countries, UNDESA GAID

  9. 艾诚 Gloria Cheng Ai
    艾诚 Gloria Cheng Ai
    at · Reply

    I remember Ms. Qian as a great leader we admired and a dear friend we respected when I worked on 2009 United Nations E-Government Survey. With your encouragement on my personal and professional life, I will keep calm and carry on by looking up to you as a role model. May you rest in peace! Also, please pass on my condolences to her family, friends and colleagues.

    艾诚 Gloria Cheng Ai Business TV Host and Commentator

  10. SK Sinha
    at · Reply

    Very sad to know about the demise of Ms. Haiyan Qian, and we all in Centre For Good Governance at Hyderabad, India, convey our profound grief to the family members, with a prayer that her soul rests in peace. Our thoughts and prayers for the family members..

  11. Thomas Gurtner, UNDP Tchad
    Thomas Gurtner, UNDP Tchad
    at · Reply

    Very sorry to get this news. Kindly pass on my heartfelt condolences to the her family and you all who have worked closely with her.

  12. Xiaoning Huang, DPA
    Xiaoning Huang, DPA
    at · Reply

    I just got the sad news.

  13. Qiheng Hu
    Qiheng Hu
    at · Reply

    I remember how did you care about the improvement of IGF events and so on when last year we met. Your warm smile and your gentle voice are still so vivid in my mind but you are gone. I can’t tell you how I miss you. May God accept you as hie dear daughter and may you, my dear friend, take a lasting rest in peace.

  14. Rosa Ahmed, DESA
    Rosa Ahmed, DESA
    at · Reply

    I am sorry to hear the sad news.

  15. Dong Wu, UNCTAD
    Dong Wu, UNCTAD
    at · Reply

    I am deeply saddened to learn the tragic news of the passing of Haiyan. When I saw her in the summer, she seemed as strong and optimistic as ever. May she rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers are with her family.

  16. Akira Nakamura, Meiji University
    Akira Nakamura, Meiji University
    at · Reply

    I am terribly sorry to hear the passing away of Ms.. Qian. I do not know how to react to this unexpected news. I am sure all of us share the thought that Ms. Qian made tremendous contributions to the U.N. and to the growth of public admijnistarion as a dicipline. We all miss her forever.

  17. Dr. He Changchui(Formal FAO Deputy Director-General)
    Dr. He Changchui(Formal FAO Deputy Director-General)
    at · Reply

    It is a great shock to learn this sad news about the premature demise of Haiyan. I wish to express my profound condolence to her family members and the team of UNDESA-DPAPM. I know Haiyan for over 30 years since we worked together in the then State Science and Technology Commission of China (SSTCC) back to early 1980s. Haiyan was known as a dedicated and hardworking person. I remember that she had always a positive attitude and was full of enthusiasm, often with broad smile. She was so committed and loyal to the UN mission, demonstrating a shining example of UN staff with high integrity and professionalism. My last interaction with Haiyan was a telephone conversation with her in December 2012, when we talked about MDGs and Post 2015 and the possibility of cooperation between FAO and DESA. I couldn’t imagine that she was already on the terminal stage of cancer.
    The misfortune death of Haiyan is not only the loss of her family, but also the loss of the Chinese community in the UN family. We will remember her and may she rest in peace.

  18. Markus Kummer, ISOC
    Markus Kummer, ISOC
    at · Reply

    I heard the sad news about the passing away of Haiyan. She leaves a great legacy and we all keep a fond memory of her. I remember vividly when I met her last, in Baku, for the IGF. We had a friendly conversation, sharing memories of past meetings and looking forward to future IGF successes. Like many others, I am deeply saddened that she left us too early.
    Please pass on my condolences to her family, friends and colleagues from UNDESA.

  19. Magnus Olafsson, UN
    Magnus Olafsson, UN
    at · Reply

    I am really, really very sorry to hear this.
    Haiyan and I had a very pleasant cooperation on some issues and I got to know her well while serving with her on a recruitment panel.

  20. Giacomo Mazzone, EBU-UER
    Giacomo Mazzone, EBU-UER
    at · Reply

    In these moment of mourning there are no words that have meaning or that can be heard. So I’ll not be long.
    But once the first wave of sorrow will disappear, and the time of the remembering will come, please keep in mind what I remember of your wife and of your mother.
    She was really an exceptional person, committed to her mission and function, beyond herself (and could be beyond sometimes her dears: it could happen).
    She was committed to make this world better through her job and her dedication to it .
    Of that we all have to be grateful because she really has changed the portion of world around her and making a better place for all of us.
    Working with her was always nice. She always was available and I feel even a little bit guilty because I continue to ask her help till last December, because she never said a word about her personal life and health problems. Now I regret that, but she was like that with everybody.
    Her path on earth was light, but her soul was strong and her heart great. This is how I knew her and this is the portrait of her I wanted to share with you. Be proud of her !

  21. Zakareya Ahmed Al-Khajah, eGa, Kingdom of Bahrain
    Zakareya Ahmed Al-Khajah, eGa, Kingdom of Bahrain
    at · Reply

    I have received with profound sadness the news about the misfortunate demise of Ms. Haiyan Qian, please accept my deepest condolences for this loss.
    As a VP of eGA I would like to send my sympathies to all the UNDP dedicated team and her loved ones. Ms. Haiyan Qian will always remain in our hearts and we will forever cherish our memories with her.

  22. Mohammad K Sattar
    Mohammad K Sattar
    at · Reply

    I would like to express my heartfelt sorrow for the loss of your wife. Please accept my condolences.

  23. Lesley Wilkinson
    Lesley Wilkinson
    at · Reply

    Please accept my deepest sympathies. What a terrible shock. Haiyan was so vibrant and brilliant and this must be so terrible for Nini and you. Please let me know if there is anything one can do to help.

  24. Ion Botnaru, UN
    Ion Botnaru, UN
    at · Reply

    You did all you could and even much more. Your daughter should be proud of you and she will need you even more now. Stay strong, my friend. Ludmila and all our family will pray for her. May God rest her in peace.

  25. Juwang Zhu, UN
    Juwang Zhu, UN
    at · Reply

    Mr. Wu, Haitian and I are here to help. If there is any admin matter to take care of, let us know.

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