Geneva, December 11, 2011 : .UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed Catherine Russell as the Executive Director for Unicef.
Russell was an advisor to President Joe Biden.
She replaces Henrietta Fore, to whom Guterres expressed his gratitude for her commitment and dedicated service to the UN agency, Xinhua news agency quoted Stephane Dujarric, the Secretary-General’s chief spokesman, as saying.
“Russell brings to the role decades of experience in developing innovative policy that empowers underserved communities around the world,” the spokesman said.
Russell is currently the Director of White House Office of Presidential Personnel.
She was the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues in Department of State from 2013 through 2017.
The Secretary-General expressed his appreciation to Fore “for her inspiring leadership of Unicef and in particular, Unicef’s critical role in the global response to Covid-19 and in reimagining education”, Dujarric said.
“As a result of her leadership, Unicef is now an organization with a broader array of public and private sector partnerships and a bolder focus on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Unicef announced that Russell would be the fourth female head of the agency with 20,000 employees.
“Catherine Russell will bring a wealth of expertise to Unicef’s work, and I am delighted to hand over to someone with her knowledge, experience, and deep care for children and women,” said Fore.
“I have no doubt that Unicef and the world’s children will be in capable hands under her leadership.”
Unicef stated that Russell would assume her new roles in the New Year.
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