Incoming UN Secretary General appoints three women to senior UN posts

Antonio Guterres 

Incoming UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday announced the appointment of Ms. Amina J. Mohammed of Nigeria as his deputy secretary-general and two other women for senior management positions.

The announcement was made by UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric at a daily briefing on behalf of Guterres, who succeeds outgoing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Jan. 1.

Mohammed is currently Minister of Environment of Nigeria. Prior to this role, she served as Special Adviser to the outgoing UN chief on Post-2015 Development Planning.

Guterres is also going to appoint Ms. Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti of Brazil as his Chef de Cabinet and to appoint Ms. Kyung-wha Kang as his special advisor on policy, a position Guterres intends to create, Dujarric said.

"These appointments are the foundations of my team, which I will continue to build, respecting my pledges on gender parity and geographical diversity," said Guterres in a statement.

"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.

Viotti is presently the Under-Secretary for Asia and the Pacific at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she has special responsibility for work on the BRICS.

Kang is currently the Chief of the Secretary-General-designate's Transition Team. She has served as Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs since April 2013 and was Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights from January 2007 to March 2013.

Guterres was sworn in as the ninth secretary-general of the United Nations on Monday when he pledged to promote gender equality among UN senior management group and has said by the end of his mandate, the UN shall reach full gender parity at its high-level positions.