UNSG appoints new Deputy Secretary-General

REMARKS BY THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AT THE NOON PRESS BRIEFING, UNHQ, 2 MARCH 2012

SG:  Thank you very much.  Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen.  You may be wondering why I am here suddenly.  I am not here to replace him [Spokesperson] - his job - but I am here to share with you beforehand how I am doing with creating my new team.

You have been briefed by my Chef de Cabinet [Vijay Nambiar] in between – twice. This is my third announcement, but with some concrete names.

Today, I would like to announce my choices for the positions of Deputy Secretary-General and Chef de Cabinet.

 

For Deputy Secretary-General, I am going to appoint Mr. Jan Eliasson, a national of Sweden, who is a veteran in the field of diplomacy and international relations and a strong supporter of the United Nations. Mr. Eliasson has held many important roles directly related to the United Nations, such asPresident of the 60th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, my Special Envoy for Darfur, and currently a member of the MDG [Millennium Development Goals] Advocate Group.  He also served as the first Under-Secretary-General and head of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs in 1992.  During his tenure as President of the General Assembly, he led important reform initiatives which resulted in the creation of the Human Rights Council and the Peacebuilding Commission. 

During his tenure as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Special Envoy for Darfur, he was involved in emergency humanitarian operations and conflict prevention in a number of hot spots like Sudan, Somalia, Mozambique and the Balkans. 

On the national stage, he has served in key ambassadorial positions representing his country in New York and Washington, as well as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and finally as Foreign Minister of Sweden.

As I mentioned earlier, Deputy Secretary-General Dr. [Asha-Rose] Migiro, will stay through the conclusion of Rio+20 Conference until June, and Mr. Eliasson will start as of July 1st.

For the position of the Chef de Cabinet, I selected Ms. Susana Malcorra, a national of Argentina, who is currently serving as the Under-Secretary-General for Field Support.  During her tenure as the first head of the Department of Field Support, she has directed logistical and administrative support for UN peace missions worldwide in support of about 30 field operations comprising 120,000 military, police and civilian personnel. 

Prior to joining the Secretariat, she has also served as Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) overseeing daily emergency and humanitarian operations. 

Before joining the WFP in 2004, she accrued 25 years of experience in the private sector, including leadership roles at IBM and Telecom Argentina.  My current Chef de Cabinet, Mr. Vijay Nambiar, will concentrate on his role as Special Adviser on Myanmar.  I have asked him to ensure an orderly transition with the incoming Chef de Cabinet who will take over from April 1st, next month.

As for the post of Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, the selection process will be initiated immediately. 

Now, let me turn to other senior Under-Secretaries-General positions for which I have asked for open and public nominations.  Transparent and competitive selection processes for ten Under-Secretaries-General have started. Some of them reached a final stage.  It is my intention to finalize them as promptly as the selection process is completed.  I will be able to make additional announcements some time next week.

Last, but not least, I would like to emphasize once again my strong commitment to promoting mobility of UN staff. We have to make our staff mobile and multifunctional to meet the requirements of global service delivery.  The success of the Organization will be determined by our ability to deliver globally. This year, we will submit to the Member States a comprehensive proposal for mobility.  To lead by example, I have applied a five-year rule to senior advisers above the rank of Assistant Secretary-General and will apply it this time again.  This is the case with the other senior advisers in my immediate office - Mr. Robert Orr, and Mr. Kim Won-Soo.  I will also continue to apply the same rule to other staff at the Professional level and above in my office, to set the example. 

Last month, I announced two enablers – partnership and reform - as part of my five-year action agenda.  Mr. Robert Orr will lead the effort to create a new partnership facility as a way to harness public and private partnership to meet global challenges.  This facility will build on existing recently launched initiatives such as the Global Compact, UN Partnership Office and Every Woman Every Child initiatives.  After the departure of Mr. Atul Khare, I already tasked Mr. Kim Wonsoo to lead a change implementation team.  It is now focussed on creating a network for reform, which will enable the Organization to have a modern Secretariat, supported by a mobile and multi-skilled work force.  Both Mr. Orr and Mr. Kim will move to these new functions starting from April 1st.

Thank you.