UN chief to roll out changes to senior team for next five-year term

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plans to roll out changes in his senior team as he prepares to embark on his second term at the helm of the United Nations, including to his top political, economic, disarmament, and communications advisers, his chief of staff announced today.

Vijay Nambiar told journalists at UN Headquarters that Mr. Ban is keen to ensure the right mix of change and continuity in the senior leadership team for his second five-year term, which begins next month.

“The Secretary-General’s intention is to build a new team that is strong on substance and diverse in composition, complementing one another and working as a team,” said Mr. Nambiar.

In this process, Mr. Ban will focus on those senior officials who already have five years of service, as well as try to balance the need for fresh perspectives with the need for maintaining continuity of purpose.

“He will continue to focus on empowering line departments as well as on leveraging organizational synergy by streamlining work process and minimizing institutional duplication,” Mr. Nambiar added.

“We are announcing these changes in advance in order to give ample time for us to seek nominations, and to ensure a smooth transition.”

Mr. Ban is currently undertaking a thorough review of his entire team, with the aim of rolling out the changes in a phased manner. It is expected that eight Under-Secretaries-General will leave around the first half of 2012.

They are Muhammad Shaaban, Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Management; Kiyotaka Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information; B. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs; and Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

Also on the list are Sergio Duarte, High Representative for Disarmament; Cheick Sidi Diarra, Special Adviser for Africa; Abdoulie Janneh, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA); and Ján Kubiš, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE). Mr. Kubiš was last week appointed as the Secretary-General's next Special Representative to Afghanistan

The selection process has also begun for five Assistant Secretary-General positions at the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

Mr. Ban thanked the departing senior officials for their dedication and hard work, adding that they have “contributed much to the reassertion of the importance and relevance of the Organization,” said Mr. Nambiar.

Additional announcements about other senior adviser positions will be made in the coming days, he added.