| Caroline Gennez | |
| Office: | Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy |
| Primeminister: | Alexander De Croo |
| Term Start: | 17 December 2022 |
| Predecessor: | Meryame Kitir |
| Office1: | Member of the Flemish Parliament |
| Term1: | 2009–2010 2014–2022 |
| Office2: | Member of the Belgian Parliament (Chamber of Representatives) |
| Term2: | 2004–2007 2010–2014 |
| Office3: | Chairwoman of SP.A |
| Term Start3: | 21 October 2007 |
| Term End3: | 18 September 2011 |
| Predecessor3: | Johan Vande Lanotte |
| Successor3: | Bruno Tobback |
| Office4: | Schepen for education, youth, employment and social economy in Mechelen |
| Term Start4: | 2007 |
| Term End4: | 2012 |
| Office5: | City councillor in Mechelen |
| Term Start5: | 2007 |
| Term End5: | 2019 |
| Office6: | Member of the Belgian Parliament (Senate) |
| Term Start6: | 19 June 2003 |
| Term End6: | 6 July 2004 |
| Office7: | Schepen in Sint-Truiden |
| Term7: | 2003 |
| Office8: | City councillor in Sint-Truiden |
| Term Start8: | 2001 |
| Term End8: | 2003 |
| Office9: | Chairwoman of the Jongsocialisten |
| Term Start9: | 1998 |
| Term End9: | 2003 |
| Predecessor9: | Dylan Casaer |
| Successor9: | Laurent Winnock |
| Birth Date: | 21 August 1975 |
| Birth Place: | Sint-Truiden, Belgium |
| Nationality: | Belgian |
| Party: | Vooruit |
| Alma Mater: | University of Leuven |
| Occupation: | Politician |
| Website: | Official website |
Caroline Gennez (in Dutch; Flemish kɑroːˈlin ʒəˈneː/; born 21 August 1975) is a Belgian socialist politician who has been serving as the Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy in the De Croo Government since December 2022.[1] She is a former chairwoman of the Socialist Party – Different (SP.A) in Flanders.
Gennez was born in Sint-Truiden. From the age of 5 until she was 14, she was a talented tennis player. A hernia ended this career. She got a Master in Political and Sociological Sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven.
After her studies, Gennez joined the Young Socialists, and became their chairperson in 1998.
While working as an advisor to Johan Vande Lanotte, Gennez became a city councillor (2001–2003) and an alderman (2003) in Sint-Truiden. In 2003, her party appointed her to the Belgian Senate and made her move to Mechelen. At that moment she called for a boycott of the Israeli song in the Eurovision song festival contest.[2] In 2004 she became fraction leader in the Flemish Parliament (2004–2007). Since October 2006, she has been first alderman in Mechelen, responsible for education, youth, employment and social economy.
After the electoral defeat in June 2007 at the federal elections, Gennez was elected the successor of Johan Vande Lanotte as chairperson of the SP.A, the party of which she has been vice-president since 2003. Between May and October 2005, she was already chairperson ad interim of the SP.A. After her announcement in June 2011 to not run for a second term as chairwoman, she was succeeded by Bruno Tobback on 18 September 2011.
In the 2014 regional elections, Gennez returned to the Flemish Parliament once again. She was elected as a list leader in the province of Antwerp. From September 2014 to May 2019, she served on the Bureau (executive committee) of the Flemish Parliament as the fourth vice president, under the leadership of Jan Peumans. In the 2019 elections, she was re-elected. From June 2019, she was again part of the Bureau of the Flemish Parliament, this time as secretary.
Since October 2022, Gennez has been the treasurer of the Party of European Socialists (PES) under its chair Stefan Löfven.[3]
In December 2022 she was appointed Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy in the De Croo Government after the resignation of Meryame Kitir.