UNITED NATIONS: General Antonio Guterres appointed former British diplomat Tom Fletcher as the new UN humanitarian chief on Wednesday.
Fletcher, who is currently principal of Hertford College, Oxford and vice chair of Oxford University‘s Conference of Colleges, succeeds fellow Briton Martin Griffiths, who stepped down for health reasons as undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs at the end of June.
UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, who announced the appointment, said acting UN humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya will remain in the job until Fletcher takes over at a future date.
Haq called Fletcher “an internationally recognised communicator, through his books and media work across the fields of development, diplomacy, technology and democracy, with a blend of technocratic expertise and public diplomacy”.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the United States looks forward to collaborating closely with Fletcher “to strengthen and accelerate global efforts to address urgent humanitarian crises“.
“We must do everything we can to ensure lifesaving aid reaches those most in need – from Sudan, to Gaza, Haiti, Ukraine, and beyond,” she said in a statement.
Fletcher previously served as global strategy director of the Global Business Coalition for Education from 2015-2019, served as the UK’s ambassador to Lebanon from 2011-2015 and as foreign and development policy adviser to three UK prime ministers from 2007-2011. He was also a mediator in Northern Ireland and held diplomatic posts in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.