DECEMBER
JAN FABRE APPOINTED UNESCO WATER AMBASSADOR
The Belgium choreographer and artist Jan Fabre and his ensemble
Troubleyn have been appointed Cultural Ambassadors of UNESCO-IHE
Institute for Water Education in Delft for five years. Jan Fabre/Troubleyn
will carry and spread the message of UNESCO-IHE through their
performances around the world.
UNESCO statement, 28 November 2005.
NEW HEADS OF BIODIVERSITY CONVENTION, WWF
INTERNATIONAL TAKE HELM
Ahmed
Djoghlaf of Algeria is about to take charge on 1 January 2006 as the new
Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, while
American James P. Leape has officially taken over as the new Director
General of WWF International.
More information on James P. Leape’s appointment
and
more information on Ahmed Djoghlaf.
LOUISE FRÉCHETTE TO LEAVE UN, JOIN RESEARCH CENTER
UN Deputy
Secretary-General Louise Fréchette will be leaving her post in New York
in April 2006 to take up a new appointment as Distinguished Fellow at
the Center for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Canada.
Her most recent role at the UN has been in coordinating the preparation
for the Secretary-General’s proposals for implementing comprehensive
United Nations management reform. Ms. Fréchette joined the UN in 1998,
and was previously Canada’s Deputy Minister of National Defense. Her new
post will involve chairing a two-year research project on nuclear
energy.
UN
announcement, 16 December 2005.
NOVEMBER
DIOUF RE-ELECTED TO THIRD TERM AS FAO HEAD
Jacques
Diouf has been re-elected to serve a third six-year term as
Director-General of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture
Organization. He was first elected FAO Director-General in November
1993. His third term will run until 2011.
FAO news release, November 2005.
RACE TO SUCCEED TOPFER HEATS UP
The race
to succeed Klaus Töpfer as head of the UN Environment Programme has
intensified, with several new names entering the field. In mid-2005,
Töpfer announced his intention to step down as Executive Director in
2006, fuelling speculation over who might replace him. The Pakistani
government has reportedly proposed Töpfer’s deputy, Shafkat Kakakhel.
Other names to have surfaced in connection with the job include Jan
Pronk of the Netherlands, Norwegian Environment Minister
Børge Brende, and other candidates from South
Africa, Mexico, India and Ecuador.
OCTOBER
JOKE WALLER-HUNTER PASSES AWAY
BUSINESS
EXECUTIVE TO RUN CANADA’S “CLEAN FUND”
A former
energy industry executive has been appointed to run the Canadian
government’s “Clean Fund,” according to media reports. Allan Amey has
worked in the energy sector for the past two decades, and now heads
Climate Change Central, an Alberta-based agency. The government is
hoping that the Clean Fund can take a leading in supporting
cost-effective ways to cut emissions.
Canadian Press report, October 2005.
ANNAN NAMES SPECIAL ADVISER ON THE GLOBAL COMPACT
UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has tapped Klaus Leisinger, the President
and CEO of the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development, as his
Special Adviser on the Global Compact. The Compact is a voluntary
initiative that encourages businesses to embrace responsible corporate
citizenship principles in their operations.
UN News Release, 5 October 2005.
JAPAN’S YUKIYA AMINO TO CHAIR UN ATOMIC AGENCY
Yukiya
Amano of Japan has been elected as the new Chair of the Board of
Governors for the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency for 2005-2006.
He succeeds Canada’s Ingrid Hall. The Agency addresses issues ranging
from nuclear weapons proliferation to power plant safety.
UN
announcement, 4 October 2005.
BEAT NOBS APPOINTED AMBASSADOR TO NEW ZEALAND
Ambassador
Beat Nobs, who headed the International Affairs Division at the Swiss
Agency for the Environment, Forests, and Landscape, has been appointed
Switzerland’s Ambassador to New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
Ambassador Nobs has been involved over many years in numerous
multilateral environmental processes, heading the Swiss delegation on
multiple occasions, and chairing a considerable number of meetings,
committees, and contact groups. He succeeds Sylvie Matteucci-Keller in
the Wellington-based post.
More
information (in French).
SEPTEMBER
SOUTH AFRICA TO CHAIR GROUP OF 77
South
Africa has accepted the nomination to chair the Group of 77 and China in
2006. The country will succeed Jamaica, which is chairing the Group in
2005. More
information, 22 September 2005.
WHO ANNOUNCES SENIOR APPOINTMENTS
The World
Health Organization has appointed Anarfi Asamoah-Baah of Ghana as
Assistant Director-General for the HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria cluster, and
Margaret Chan of China to be Assistant Director-General for the
Communicable Diseases cluster.
More information.
ABDOULIE JANNEH TO HEAD ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR
AFRICA
Abdoulie
Janneh of the Gambia has been announced as the new Executive Secretary
of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Janneh was previously
UNDP Regional Director for Africa.
More
information (20 September 2005).
AUGUST
WRI SELECTS FOUR NEW BOARD MEMBERS
The World
Resources Institute (WRI) has elected four new members to its board of
directors: Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the former president of Brazil; Al
Gore, the former vice president of the United States; Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, the minister of finance for Nigeria; and Lee Thomas,
president and chief operating officer of Georgia-Pacific Corporation and
former administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency.
WRI news release, 18 August 2005.
SEBASTIAN
WINKLER APPOINTED NEW HEAD OF COUNTDOWN 2010 SECRETARIAT
IUCN’s
European Office has appointed Sebastian Winkler as the new Head of the
Countdown 2010 Secretariat. Winkler’s major task will be to strengthen
the Countdown 2010 Secretariat, which is currently functioning as a
Pan-European Alliance, advancing the 2010 commitments of halting the
loss of biodiversity into concrete action.
More
information.
LAMY NAMES FOUR
NEW DEPUTIES AT WTO
The World
Trade Organization’s incoming Director-General, Pascal Lamy, has named
his four deputy directors’ general. They are Alejandro Jara of Chile,
Valentine Rugwabiza of Rwanda, Harsha Singh of India and Rufus Yerxa of
the United States. Their terms of office begin on 1 October.
More
information.
JULY
UN THIRD
COMMITTEE ELECTS REMAINING BUREAU MEMBERS
The Third
Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) has elected its final
remaining Bureau members, including Pedro Cardoso (Brazil), as
Rapporteur, and Muhammad Anshor (Indonesia), as Vice-Chairperson. They
will join the other members of the bureau, who were also elected on 13
June.
More information.
KERR DEPARTS UN
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
Anne Kerr
has left her position as head of the Programme Coordination, Major
Groups and Partnerships Branch within the UN Division for Sustainable
Development and is now working at Environment Canada.
JAMES LEAPE NAMED
AS NEW DIRECTOR GENERAL OF WWF INTERNATIONAL
WWF
International has named James P. Leape as its new Director General. An
American and environmental lawyer, Leape will replace Claude Martin, who
has headed WWF International for 12 years. Leape takes up his new post
in December 2005.
More information.
CARTER ROBERTS
TAKES HELM AT WORLD WILDLIFE FUND (U.S)
Carter
Roberts has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of the
Washington, D.C.-based World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Effective 11 July
2005, Roberts succeeds Kathryn Fuller, who stepped down on 30 June after
16 years as President and CEO.
More
information.
JUNE
DJOGHLAF TO HEAD
BIODIVERSITY CONVENTION
Ahmed
Djoghlaf of Algeria has been named as the new Executive Secretary of the
Convention on Biological Diversity. Currently the Director of the UN
Environment Programme’s Division of Global Environment Facility
Coordination, Djoghlaf will take up his new post on 1 January 2006. He
replaces Hamdallah Zedan of Egypt.
More information.
UN REAPPOINTS
NUCLEAR WATCHDOG CHIEF
Mohamed
ElBaradei of Egypt has won a third term as Director General of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN body responsible for
the “peaceful use of nuclear technologies.” ElBaradei reportedly won
another four-year term after the United States withdrew its objections.
Links to further information
Official IAEA announcement, 13 June 2005
BBC news
report, 13 June 2005
CONTROVERSIAL CLIMATE OFFICIAL LEAVES WHITE HOUSE, JOINS EXXON
A White
House official recently accused by environmentalists of watering down
key government documents on global warming, has resigned. Philip Cooney,
chief of staff of the Council on Environmental Quality and a former head
of the American Petroleum Institute’s climate programme, will reportedly
join Exxon Mobil later this year.
Links to further information
Bush aide
'edited climate papers', BBC news, 9 June 2005
Climate Row US
Official Resigns, BBC news, 12 June 2005
Ex-White House Official to Join Fuel Co., Washington Post, 14 June
2005
MAY
NEW WATER AND SANITATION COUNCIL
CHAIR ANNOUNCED
Roberto
Lenton, has been named as the new Chair of the Water Supply and
Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC). He will take up his new
position during World Water Week in Stockholm in August 2005. Lenton is
currently co-coordinator of the UN Millennium Project Task Force on
Water and Sanitation, and Chair of the Technical Committee of the Global
Water Partnership (GWP). He will succeed Sir Richard Jolly, who chaired
the Council for close to eight years.
More
information.
GREENHILL NAMED
NEW CIDA PRESIDENT
Robert
Greenhill has been named the new President of the Canadian International
Development Agency. A former Senior Visiting Executive of the
International Development Research Center, he will replace Paul Thibault,
who has retired. Greenhill took up his new post on 24 May 2005.
According to reports, Greenhill was a “surprise choice” who impressed
Canadian politicians with a new study arguing that Canada’s
international reputation and credentials had deteriorated and was now in
crisis—but that the situation could be saved.
Links to further information
CIDA press release, 27 May 2005
Embassy newspaper, 25 May 2005
LAMY CONFIRMED AS
WTO HEAD; SUPACHAI JOINS UNCTAD
Europe’s
former Trade Commissioner, Pascal Lamy of France, has been confirmed as
the next Director-General of the World Trade Organization. Lamy, who
will be the fifth person to head the organization, will begin his
four-year, renewable term on 1 September 2005.
Meanwhile,
the current head of the WTO, Thailand’s Supachai Panitchpakdi, has been
confirmed to take the top spot at the UN Conference on Trade on
Development (UNCTAD).
More
information.
KEMAL DERVIS CONFIRMED AS UNDP HEAD
Kemal
Dervis, a former Turkish Finance Minister and top World Bank official,
has been confirmed as the next administrator of the UN Development
Programme. Dervis, who was nominated by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
from a field of contenders that included Baroness Amos of Britain, was
confirmed by the UN General Assembly on 5 May. He will start his
four-year term in August. Dervis, who is the first person from a nation
that receives development assistance rather than provides it, will
succeed Mark Malloch Brown of the UK, who was recently appointed UN
Chief of Staff.
More information.
NEW HEAD OF UN INTERNAL OVERSIGHT
APPOINTED
Inga-Britt
Ahlenius of Sweden has been named as the new Under-Secretary-General for
Internal Oversight Services. The current Auditor General of Kosovo and a
former Auditor General of Sweden, Ahlenius will replace Dileep Nair of
Singapore. The Office of Internal Oversight Services is an independent
unit set up in 1994 to assist the Secretary-General in their internal
oversight responsibilities and enhance accountability, transparency and
a “results-orientation” in the UN. The head of the Office is appointed
for a five-year, non-renewable term.
More
information.
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL FILLS
VACANCIES ON COMMISSIONS
The UN
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has filled vacancies on a number of
its subsidiary bodies, including its Commissions on Sustainable
Development, Population and Development, the Status of Women, and Human
Rights. The appointment of Zimbabwe to the Commission on Human Rights
caused expressions of concern among some other delegations, including
the United States.
APRIL
NEW CEO JOINS UK ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH
COUNCIL
The UK’s
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has a new Chief Executive,
Professor Alan Thorpe. A weather and climate expert, Thorpe was director
of the UK Met Office’s Hadley Centre for
climate prediction and research from 1999-2001, and has recently been at
Reading University. He took up his new duties on 1 April 2005. Thorpe
replaces Professor Sir John Lawton.
Details.
MARCH
WORLD WATER COUNCIL BOARD ELECTS NEW
PRESIDENT
Loïc Fauchon (France) was elected the
President of the World Water Council by the
Council’s
Board of Governors on 19 March.
Fauchon, who was previously Vice-president of the World Water Council,
succeeds William Cosgrove (Canada), who left the Council in January for
a position with the government of Quebec.
Details.
BUSH NOMINATES NEW EPA
ADMINISTRATOR
US President George Bush has nominated a
scientist, Stephen Johnson, to be the next administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency. Johnson, who has been with the EPA for
24 years, replaces Mike Leavitt, who is now Secretary of Health and
Human Services. The announcement was made by President Bush on 4 March
2005.
Details.
STAKEHOLDER FORUM HIRES DEPUTY
DIRECTOR
UK-based Stakeholder Forum for Our
Common Future has a new Deputy Director - Mehjabeen Price. Price
(Pakistan) is also Stakeholder Forum’s UK Director and will coordinate
and develop SF UK’s work programme.
More.
TANDON TAKES OVER AS SOUTH CENTRE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Yash Tandon (Uganda) has been
appointed the Executive Director of the South Centre, a Geneva-based
intergovernmental body of developing countries.
More.
FEBRUARY
SUPACHAI SET TO HEAD UNCTAD
Current World Trade Organization
Director-General Supachai
Panitchpakdi has been nominated to take over at UNCTAD (UN Conference on
Trade and Development). Panitchpakdi, a former Deputy Prime Minister of
Thailand whose term at the WTO will run out later this year, was
nominated for the high-level UN trade post late February by UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan. UNCTAD
was previously headed by Brazilian Rubens
Ricupero, who held the top job for nine years until September 2004.
Ricupero’s successor has yet to be approved formally by the UN General
Assembly.
More.
POLICY EXPERT JOINS UNFF SECRETARIAT
Antonio do Prado has recently joined the
Secretariat of the UN Forum on Forests. He is on secondment from ITTO
and will serve as the Policy and Trade Officer. Prior to joining UNFF,
he served as Special Assistant to Brazil’s Minister of Environment.
More.
NOMINATIONS
FOR TOP UNDP POSITION SURFACE
Nominations for
the top UNDP post have begun surfacing, following current UNDP
Administrator Mark Malloch Brown’s appointment as the UN
Secretary-General’s Chief of Staff. The British government has named
Baroness Valerie Amos, leader of the House of Lords and a cabinet
member, as their candidate for the key post. According to the Financial
Times, a couple of other key figures are rumored to be contenders for
the position, including Hilde Johnson, Norway’s Development Minister,
and Jan Pronk, UN Special Envoy to Sudan and former Dutch Environment
Minister. A decision on Malloch Brown’s successor is expected to be made
at the end of March.
Links to
further information
Leader of the House of Lords nominated for senior UN position, FT,
17 February 2005
Baroness up for key UN job, Reuters, 16 February 2005
BÅGE RE-ELECTED AS IFAD PRESIDENT
Lennart Båge (Sweden) was re-elected a
second, four-year term by delegates attending the Governing Council of
the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Båge has
served as IFAD’s President since April 2001. His new term will begin 1
April 2005.
Details.
UNESCAP CHIEF’S APPOINTMENT RENEWED
Kim Hak-Su’s
appointment as Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations was recently renewed for
two more years by
Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Kim,
who is from the Republic of Korea, assumed the post of Executive
Secretary in July 2000.
Details.
WTO APPOINTS 2005 CHAIRS
The World Trade
Organization’s General Council announced the chairs of its various
councils and committees following a meeting held on 15 February.
Amina Chawahir Mohamed (Kenya) will chair
the General Council. Other key appointments include:
-
Choi Hyuck (Republic of
Korea)—Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS);
-
Shree Baboo Chekitan Servansing
(Mauritius)—Committee on Trade and Environment;
-
Gomi Tharaka Senadhira (Sri
Lanka)—Committee on Trade and Development; and,
-
Manuel Antonio J. Teehankee
(Philippines)—Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology.
The
full
list of appointments.
OECD SECRETARIAT HEAD TO STEP DOWN IN
2006
OECD Secretary-General Donald Johnston
has indicated that he will step down from his post in May 2006. In a
letter to OECD members, Johnston, who has served as the head of the OECD
Secretariat since 1996, stressed the need for his successor to be
selected as soon as possible in order to ensure a smooth transition. The
terms of three Deputy Secretaries-General will also expire in 2006.
Johnston has recommended that only one of these posts be filled to
reduce a “top-heavy, expensive management structure.”
More.
FORMER US PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON TO BE UN
ENVOY FOR TSUNAMI-AFFECTED COUNTRIES
Former US President Bill Clinton will be
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Envoy for Tsunami-affected
Countries. The formal announcement of the appointment will be made in
March. Clinton is currently working with former President Bush on
fundraising efforts in the US, and plans to visit the tsunami-affected
region with Bush in February.
Links to
further information
UN press release, 1 February 2005
Bill Clinton’s statement, 1 February 2005
PNG’S KAPUTIN TO BECOME NEXT ACP
SECRETARY-GENERAL
John Kaputin (Papua New Guinea) will
assume his new position as Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean
and Pacific (ACP) Group of States on 1 March 2005. Kaputin was elected
by the ACP Council of Ministers in early December 2004 to the position
currently served by Jean-Robert Goulongana (Gabon), whose term of office
and that of the current Assistant Secretaries-General will expire on 28
February 2005.
Details.
JANUARY
MALLOCH BROWN ASSUMES
POSITION AS UN CHIEF OF STAFF
UNDP Administrator Mark
Malloch Brown assumed his position as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s
Chief of Staff on 19 January. Malloch Brown, who was named by Annan for
the post on 3 January, replaces 70-year old Iqbal Riza (Pakistan), who
is retiring after serving the post for seven years. Malloch Brown will
continue to lead UNDP until a replacement is found. More information is
available from the
UN press release and from
Xinhua news.
US AGRICULTURE SECRETARY ANN VENEMAN
TO REPLACE CAROL BELLAMY AS NEW UNICEF HEAD
United States Agriculture Secretary Ann
Veneman has been nominated by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to head
the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Veneman, who will assume her new duties
on 1 May 2005, replaces Carol Bellamy who is retiring from the post,
which traditionally goes to an American.
Details.
PAKISTAN
ELECTED ECOSOC PRESIDENT
Munir
Akram (Pakistan) was recently elected
President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for 2005 by
acclamation. In his first address to the Council, he said there was no
greater challenge to humanity – nor greater threat to world peace – than
the failure to realize the United Nations Charter’s vision of promoting
better standards of life and larger freedoms.
More.
DIALLO REAPPOINTED TO DESERTIFICATION
POST
Hama Arba Diallo has been reappointed
Executive Secretary
of the UN Convention to Combat
Desertification by the UN Secretary-General. His new three-year term
commenced on 1 January 2005.
ZOELLICK QUITS TRADE ROLE,
WOLFENSOHN TO LEAVE BANK
U.S. Trade Representative
Robert Zoellick is set to leave the post after being selected as Deputy
Secretary of State. Zoellick, who was recently rumored as a possible
contender to replace James Wolfensohn when Wolfensohn gives up the
presidency of the World Bank in June 2005, will instead succeed Richard
Armitage in the State Department. Armitage announced his resignation in
November 2004.
Speculation Mounts on Top
Trade, World Bank Posts:
Speculation on who might replace Zoellick as the leading U.S. trade
negotiator has focused on several candidates, including Grant Aldonas,
undersecretary for international trade at the Commerce Department. Other
contenders apparently include Josette Shiner and Peter Allgeier, who are
both deputy U.S. trade representatives.
Zoellick’s move has also
increased speculation over who might replace Wolfensohn when he departs
the World Bank. John Taylor, an undersecretary for international affairs
with the U.S. Treasury, has been named as one option. Other
possibilities reportedly include Randall Tobias, the Bush
administration's global AIDS coordinator. Christine Todd Whitman, who
was previously head of the Environmental Protection Agency, has also
been mentioned in connection with the position. Traditionally, the head
of the World Bank has been an American, although this has been
questioned in some circles in recent years. The U.S. is the Bank’s
largest shareholder.
Links to further
information
Bush set to name Zoellick as Deputy to Rice, China Daily, 7 January
2005
Bush picks State Department No.2, CNN, 7 January 2005
Wolfensohn confirms plan to leave World Bank, Washington Post, 4
January 2005
APEC NAMES NEW DIRECTOR
The Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) organization has named the Republic of Korea�s Choi
Seok Young as the new director of its Secretariat. He replaces Chilean
Mario Artaza. The appointment coincides with South Korea assuming the
role of official host of the APEC for the next year. In other news, Tran
Trong Toan from Viet Nam has been named the new deputy director. He will
replace Choi as Director when Viet Nam takes over as APEC host country
in 2006. Further information on the
new director and the
new deputy director.
SILVEIRA REJOINS UN�S SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
Mary Pat Silveira has rejoined the UN�s
Division for Sustainable Development (DSD) as head of the National
Information, Monitoring and Outreach Branch. Prior to assuming this
position in mid-November 2004, she was in Geneva with the UN Economic
Commission for Europe. Silveira takes over from Anne Kerr, who was
acting head in addition to her duties heading up the DSD�s Programme
Coordination, Major Groups and Partnerships Branch.
COSGROVE LEAVES WORLD
WATER COUNCIL
William Cosgrove has resigned as
President of the World Water Council Board of Governors to take up the
position of President of the Bureau d�audiences publiques sur
l'environnement in Qu�bec. Vice-President Lo�c Fauchon has stepped in as
Acting President until the next Board meeting in March 2005.
More information.
If you
would like to submit details of
recent appointments or departures,
send a message to
Diego Noguera, IISD
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Appointments, Departures