Şebnem Şahin

Şebnem Sahin is the Chief Economist for the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (RBEC), based in Istanbul. She brings 20 years of experience working with international institutions, including UNDP, the World Bank, the OECD, IFPRI, CEPII, and academia. She specializes in economic modeling, focusing on assessing development challenges tailored to the unique contexts of specific countries and regions. In her current role, she provides thought leadership on inclusive growth, sustainable finance, regional cooperation, and trade integration across the region. Her work has spanned Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Cyprus, North Macedonia, and Afghanistan, as well as the Western Balkans and the Middle East. She has contributed to both crisis response and long-term development strategies in the context of major global disruptions, including climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and, more recently, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

Sahin holds a PhD and a Master’s degree in Economics from Panthéon-Sorbonne University and École Centrale Paris, as well as a BA in Economics from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul.