Guterres appoints women for three top UN positions

Building on his promise to ensure gender parity and geographical diversity at the UN, Secretary-General-designate Antonio Guterres has appointed three women from Nigeria, Brazil and South Korea for top positions at the world body.

Guterres announced he will be appointing Amina Mohammed of Nigeria as the UN Deputy Secretary-General on his assumption of office as the 9th chief of the United Nations in January 2017. He appointed Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti of Brazil as his Chef de Cabinet and said he intends to create the position of Special Advisor on Policy, and to appoint Kyung-wha Kang of South Korea to this new role.

“I am happy to count on the efforts of these three highly competent women, whom I have chosen for their strong backgrounds in global affairs, development, diplomacy, human rights and humanitarian action,” he said in a statement here yesterday.

Guterres, who will succeed Ban Ki-moon as the world s top diplomat, said “these appointments are the foundations of my team, which I will continue to build, respecting my pledges on gender parity and geographical diversity.” 

In his address to the General Assembly after taking the Oath of Office this week, he had emphasised the need for gender empowerment and equality in the UN as well as across the globe, pledging to respect gender parity from the start in all appointments to the Senior Management Group and the Chief Executives Board.