March 16, 10

NEWS / Secretary-General appoints US adviser and diplomat as new head of UNICEF

16 March 2010 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appointed the United States foreign policy adviser, diplomat and academic Anthony Lake as the next Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
“He brings with him a wealth of experience after a long and distinguished career with the United States Government,” the Secretary-General said today in New York at his monthly press briefing to journalists.

Mr. Lake, 70, joined the US Foreign Service in 1962 and served as National Security Adviser to former President Bill Clinton. He spent nine years on the board of the US Fund for UNICEF, including a stint as chair from 2004-2007. Most recently he has served as a professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, in Washington D.C.

Mr. Lake replaces Ann Veneman, a former US Secretary of Agriculture, whose term as chief of UNICEF expires on 30 April.

Mr. Ban today thanked Ms. Veneman for her “immense dedication, energy and determination to improve the lives of children around the world. She leaves behind an organization well-equipped for the enormous challenges ahead.”

The Secretary-General appoints the UNICEF chief in consultations with the board of the UN agency.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34093&Cr=unicef&Cr1=

Tags: foreign service,