SEPTEMBER
Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam Convention's Welcome New Deputy Executive Secretary
Kerstin Stendahl (Finland) has been selected as the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. Stendahl is expected to take up her post on 9 November 2012. Stendahl is currently the Director for international environmental governance at the Ministry of the Environment, Finland. She has also served on the bureaux of the Rotterdam and Basel Conventions, and chaired the synergies process among the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions. [IISD RS Sources]
AUGUST
Wu Hongbo Takes Office as Head of DESA
1 August 2012: Wu Hongbo has begun his term as Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, and head of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), as of 1 August 2012. More.
Naoko Ishii Takes Office as GEF CEO and Chairperson
1 August 2012: The Global Environment Facility (GEF) welcomed Naoko Ishii as its new CEO and Chairperson, announcing that she had taken office on 1 August 2012. The GEF Council unanimously selected Ishii to succeed Monique Barbut, who completed her second term as CEO in July 2012. More.
UN Secretary-General Appoints Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning
June 2012: The Secretary-General has appointed Amina J. Mohammed of Nigeria as Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning. More.
JUNE
UN Secretary-General Announces New Heads of DPI, DESA
Three high-level appointments within the UN were announced at the end of May. For the position of Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon selected Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal (Austria), who had been the spokesman and Head of the Department for Communication and Information of the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. For the position of Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Ban selected Wu Hongbo of China. Wu is Ambassador of China to the Federal Republic of Germany. For the position of Assistant Secretary-General in DESA, Ban selected Shamshad Akhtar of Pakistan. Akhtar recently served as Vice-President, Middle East and North Africa at the World Bank. [Briefing Transcript]
APRIL
Jim Yong Kim Selected as Next World Bank President
16 April 2012: The World Bank Board of Executive Directors selected Jim Yong Kim, a US national and recognized health and development expert, as President of the Bank for a five-year term, beginning on 1 July 2012. More.
New UNECA Executive Secretary Appointed
23 March 2012: Carlos Lopes (Guinea-Bissau) has been appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as the next Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). More.
MARCH
New UNECE Executive Secretary Appointed
On 9 March 2012, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that he has appointed Sven Alkalaj (Bosnia and Herzegovina) as Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Executive Secretary Alkalaj previously held the position of Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the US and in Brussels. More.
Eliasson Selected as Next UN Deputy Secretary-General
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced that Jan Eliasson (Sweden), a veteran in the fields of diplomacy and foreign relations, has been appointed UN Deputy Secretary-General, and will take over from Asha-Rose Migiro (Tanzania) effective 1 July 2012. More
FEBRUARY
New UN-Water Chair and Vice-Chair Take Office
UN-Water has announced that Michel Jarraud, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General, and Albert Diphoorn, UN-Habitat Urban Basic Services Branch Coordinator, are taking up the positions as Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively, of UN-Water for a two-year term. Outgoing UN-Water Chair, Zafar Adeel, UN University (UNU), and Thomas Chiramba, Interim Vice-Chair replacing Tim Kasten, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), handed over their duties at UN-Water's 16th meeting in Zaragoza, Spain on 8 February 2012. More.
JANUARY
Braulio Dias of Brazil Appointed New CBD Executive Secretary
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the appointment of Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias of Brazil as Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), at the Assistant Secretary-General level. More.
New WFP Executive Director Appointed
Ertharin Cousin (US) has been appointed Executive Director of the UN (WFP), following confirmation by the office of the UN Secretary-General. She is to take office in April 2012. More.
New FAO Director-General Takes Office
Committing to a renewed focus on food security, José Graziano da Silva, former Assistant Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and lead designer of Brazil's "zero-hunger" programme, has taken office as FAO Director-General. More.
CMS Executive Secretary Appointed UNEP DEPI Deputy Director
Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), was appointed Deputy Director of the Division of Environmental Policy Implementation (DEPI) at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), as of 9 January 2012. Mrema announced her decision to step down as Executive Secretary at the 38th meeting of the CMS Standing Committee and the most recent Conference of the Parties to the CMS (COP 10). More.
Appointments, Departures
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