Senior official appointed UN’s coordinator for multilingualism

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed a senior United Nations official as the world body’s coordinator of questions relating to multilingualism.

The appointment of Shashi Tharoor as Coordinator for Multilingualism is in implementation of a General Assembly resolution requesting the appointment of a senior Secretariat official as coordinator of questions relating to multilingualism throughout the Secretariat.

A national of India and a career international servant, Mr. Tharoor joined the United Nations in 1978 and rose through the ranks to his current position as Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information. His new functions are in addition to his current responsibilities as head of the Department of Public Information (DPI).