SYLVANA FOA APPOINTED SPOKESWOMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Biographical Note Samir Sanbar, Assistant Secretary-General for Public Information, today announced the appointment of Sylvana Foa as Spokeswoman for the Secretary- General, effective 1 January 1996, replacing Joe B. Sills, who has been appointed Director of the United Nations Office in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Foa is currently serving as Chief of Public Affairs for the World Food Programme in Rome.

From 1991 to March 1995, she was Spokeswoman and Chief of Public Information for the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees.

Prior to that appointment, Ms. Foa was a Media and Project Consultant from 1988 to 1991 and Vice President for News at Univision from 1986 to 1988.

In 1971 Ms. Foa joined United Press International where she held a number of positions until 1986: from 1971 to 1978, Foreign Correspondent based in Saigon and Phnom Penh; from 1978 to 1979, Chief Correspondent for Eastern Europe in Vienna; and from 1979 to 1982, Bureau Chief in Bangkok. She then served as News Editor for Asia and the Pacific in Hong Kong from 1982 to 1985 and as Foreign Editor in Washington, D.C., from 1985 to 1986.

Ms. Foa graduated from Columbia University where she studied Political Science at Barnard College and Chinese at the East Asia Institute. She also was a Special Carnegie Fellow at the Graduate School of Journalism.

Ms. Foa is a United States citizen. She speaks French, Italian and Chinese.

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