Senior UN official named as new peacebuilding chief – Eminent Irish jurist appointed, too, as UNs first female legal chief
NEW YORK, 7 August 2008: Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Field Support (DFS) Jane Holl Lute has been tapped to head the United Nations office tasked with assisting countries around the world to stabilize and rebuild their economies and societies after armed conflicts, it was announced Thursday.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Ms. Holl Lute, who will serve as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support in her new capacity, to replace Carolyn McAskie, who has led the Peacebuilding Support Office since its creation in 2006.
Ms. Holl Lute, a United States national, joined the world body in 2003 as Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and oversaw the creation of DFS from 2007 until this May.
Her “background puts her in a unique position to ensure that the PBSO will continue to grow in addressing the challenges of a convenor within the UN system, drawing on development, security, political, humanitarian and human rights actors in support of the recently established Peacebuilding Commission,” Mr. Ban said in a statement.
Furthermore, Ms. Holl Lutes experience will help her in managing the growth of the Peacebuilding Fund and supporting UN efforts to help countries emerging from conflict, he added.
Prior to taking up service with the UN, she worked as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the UN Foundation and the Better World Fund, two entities created by philanthropist Ted Turner.
The new peacebuilding chiefs extensive résumé also includes positions at the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, the Woodrow Wilson Centre for International Scholars and the National Security Council of the White House.
Ms. Holl Lute, who had a distinguished career in the US Army, has a Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University as well as a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University.
Meanwhile, Ban Ki-moon has appointed Patricia OBrien of Ireland as the new United Nations legal chief, making her the first woman in the Organizations history to hold that post.
Since 2003, Ms. OBrien has been serving as Legal Adviser to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland, during which time she provided counsel on legal issues arising in Irish foreign policy, particularly public international law, human rights law and European Union law.
The new Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and UN Legal Counsel brings to the job “an extensive experience of legal and international affairs to integrate the legal dimension in the internal decision-making processes, to promote the rule of law in international relations, and to contribute to the strengthening of the culture of the end of impunity,” UN spokesperson Michele Montas said Wednesday.
The new UN legal chief, who replaces Nicolas Michel of Switzerland, previously served as Senior Legal Adviser to the Irish Attorney General and as Legal Counsellor at the Irish Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels.
She has advised the Irish Government in legal proceedings before the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice, as well as participated in expert legal meetings in the UN, the EU and the Council of Europe.
Ms. OBrien, 51, holds an LL.B. from the University of Ottawa, Canada, and an M.A. and B.A. from Trinity College, Dublin.
Kilde: FNs Nyhedstjeneste
