Ban appoints Austrian diplomat as coordinator for multilingualism
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appointed the incoming Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, as Coordinator for Multilingualism.
The appointment follows the General Assembly’s request to Mr. Ban to appoint a senior United Nations official to coordinate questions relating to multilingualism throughout the Secretariat.
These functions are in addition to Mr. Launsky-Tieffenthal’s future responsibilities as head of the Department of Public Information, according to a statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson. Mr. Launsky-Tieffenthal will be replacing Kiyotaka Akasaka of Japan.
Since 2007, Mr. Launsky-Tieffenthal has served as the Head of the Department for Communication and Information of Austria’s Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. His 30 years of experience within the Austrian Foreign Service includes service in Asia, North America and the Middle East, with responsibilities ranging from public diplomacy and development cooperation to press and information.