Alicia Bárcena Ibarra of Mexico named as new senior aide to Secretary-General

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today announced the appointment of Alicia Bárcena Ibarra of Mexico as his Deputy Chef de Cabinet, replacing Elizabeth Lindenmeyer, who resigned earlier this year.

Ms. Bárcena comes to UN Headquarters from the world body’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), where she has served as Deputy Executive Secretary since 2003.

Before that, she worked for four years heading the Commission’s Environment and Human Settlements Division.

Her career has focused on public policies for sustainable development, with particular emphasis on environment, ecology and social issues. Among other highlights, Ms. Bárcena was the Founding Director of the Earth Council in Costa Rica.

In the Government of Mexico she was Director-General of the National Institute of Fisheries and Vice-minister of Ecology.

Mrs. Bárcena, who has taught and conducted research on botany, ethnobotany and ecology, was educated at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico and Harvard University.

In another staffing development, the Secretary-General announced today the forthcoming resignation of Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Nobuyasu Abe, who will be returning to the service of the Government of Japan.

Through his spokesman, the Secretary-General expressed gratitude for the dedicated service that Mr. Abe rendered during his two and a half year tenure as Under-Secretary-General, paying tribute to his “quiet leadership and sound political judgment in addressing the many challenges which the Organization faces in the field of disarmament and international peace and security.”

Mr. Abe’s resignation will take effect at the beginning of next month.