Ameerah Haq of Bangladesh, a veteran United Nations official with wide experience in crisis areas ranging from Afghanistan to Sudan, is to become the top UN representative in Timor-Leste as the small South-East Asian country seeks to consolidate its halting path to stability after gaining independence from Indonesia seven years ago.
Ms. Haq, who most recently served as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Deputy Special Representative for Sudan, and before that, as his Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, serving as UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in both places, will succeed Atul Khare of India as head of the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT).
Mr. Ban has already informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint Ms. Haq, spokesperson Marie Okabe said today. “Her broad management experience in supporting complex mission deployment activities is expected to greatly contribute to her new role at UNMIT,” she added.
In her new position, Ms. Haq will help Timor-Leste wean itself from UN police units that were boosted in 2006 after an eruption of violence attributed to differences between eastern and western regions, when 600 striking soldiers were fired and ensuing hostilities claimed dozens of lives and drove 155,000 people, or 15 per cent of the total population, from their homes.
In his final address to the Security Council in October, Mr. Khare warned that any drawdown of international security forces should proceed with caution, but he stressed that that President José Ramos-Horta and other leaders do not wish to be continually dependent on UN police units.
“The touchstone for success in Timor-Leste is not whether crises occur, but how future crises are met and resolved,” he said. Current UNMIT strength stands at nearly 1,552 police officers, 32 military personnel, over 1,200 international and local civilian staff and 196 UN Volunteers.
The UN presence in Timor-Leste began in 1999 when it conducted a “popular consultation” in which Timorese overwhelmingly voted for independence from Indonesia. Between 1,500 and 2,000 people were killed in ensuing clashes.
In his latest report in October, Mr. Ban warned that the underlying causes of the 2006 crisis, including rising levels of poverty, persistent unemployment, lack of effective land and property systems, and under-strength justice and security sectors, could still destabilize the country.
Prior to her Afghan and Sudanese appointments, Ms. Haq served as Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Director at the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Associate Director of the UN Development Group Office, and UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in both Malaysia and Laos.
Ms. Haq, who holds masters degrees in community organization and planning and in business administration from Columbia University and New York University respectively, started her UN career in 1976 as a UNDP junior professional officer in Jakarta, Indonesia, followed by a first mission in Afghanistan as UNDP Assistant Resident Representative.