Senior UN official named as new peacebuilding chief

Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Field Support (DFS) Jane Holl Lute has been tapped to head the United Nations office tasked with assisting countries around the world to stabilize and rebuild their economies and societies after armed conflicts, it was announced today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Ms. Holl Lute, who will serve as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support in her new capacity, to replace Carolyn McAskie, who has led the Peacebuilding Support Office since its creation in 2006.

Ms. Holl Lute, a United States national, joined the world body in 2003 as Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and oversaw the creation of DFS from 2007 until this May.

Her “background puts her in a unique position to ensure that the PBSO will continue to grow in addressing the challenges of a convenor within the UN system, drawing on development, security, political, humanitarian and human rights actors in support of the recently established Peacebuilding Commission,” Mr. Ban said in a statement.

Furthermore, Ms. Holl Lute’s experience will help her in managing the growth of the Peacebuilding Fund and supporting UN efforts to help countries emerging from conflict, he added.

Prior to taking up service with the UN, she worked as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the UN Foundation and the Better World Fund, two entities created by philanthropist Ted Turner.

The new peacebuilding chief’s extensive résumé also includes positions at the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, the Woodrow Wilson Centre for International Scholars and the National Security Council of the White House.

Ms. Holl Lute, who also had a distinguished career in the US Army, has a Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University as well as a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University.