eteran US official appointed new chief of UN management
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Tuesday appointed a veteran official of the United States Department of State the new UN Under-Secretary-General for Management.
Chosen from a short list of three candidates, Christopher Bancroft Burnham will take up his position at the beginning of next month. He will be charged with implementing a host of UN management reforms made public at the UN today.
– Mr. Burnham has led the effort to instil sound business planning practices in all aspects of the State Department, from individual embassy business plans to the Department’s strategic plan, Mr. Annan’s office said.
He succeeds Catherine Bertini, also a US national, who stepped down at the end of last month.
Mr. Burnham was named Acting Under-Secretary for Management of the US Department of State by President George W. Bush in February to oversee global operations, including diplomatic security, human resources, overseas building, administration, information resources and consular affairs.
Previous to that he was Assistant Secretary for Resource Management and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at State, managing budgeting, accounting and disbursing, strategic planning, budget and performance integration, global financial operations, intelligence resource planning and critical infrastructure protection.
He came to the Bush Administration from the private sector. He was Chief Executive Officer of PIMCOs Columbus Circle Investors and Vice Chairman of PIMCOs mutual fund group. Before that he was an investment banker with Crédit Suisse First Boston and Advest Corporate Finance.
He is also a 23-year veteran of the US Marine Corps Reserve and in 1991 led one of the first infantry units to liberate Kuwait City from Iraqi occupation.
Born in Manhattan in 1956, his education includes a Masters degree in public administration from Harvard University.
Kilde: FNs nyhedstjeneste
