PAUL KAVANAGH APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF TOKYO INFORMATION CENTRE
Press Release
BIO/3001
PI/929
PAUL KAVANAGH APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF TOKYO INFORMATION CENTRE
19960123 Biographical Note Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has appointed Paul Kavanagh as Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Tokyo. He is expected to take up his duties on 29 January.Since 1992, Mr. Kavanagh has been the Senior Political Adviser to the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus. In 1991 and 1992, he acted as Special Assistant to Cyrus R. Vance, then Personal Envoy of the Secretary- General for the former Yugoslavia.
In 1983, Mr. Kavanagh was recruited to the Cabinet of the Secretary- General on secondment from the Government of Ireland. In the course of more than eight years in that post, he assisted the Secretary-General on a number of political files, notably the conflict between Iran and Iraq, the transition of Namibia to independence, the situation in Cambodia, aspects of the Persian Gulf crises and Yugoslavia.
Mr. Kavanagh joined the United Nations from the diplomatic service of his country, Ireland. In 1978, following a period in the Department of Defence in Dublin, Mr. Kavanagh entered the diplomatic service and was assigned to divisions of the Department of Foreign Affairs dealing with international economic affairs and, subsequently, political and humanitarian questions in Asia and the Pacific. From 1979 to 1982, he was Secretary of the Embassy of Ireland in Beijing. In 1982 and 1983, he saw further line service with the Department of Foreign Affairs before acting briefly as Private Secretary to the Secretary of the Department, who was the Head of the Diplomatic Service.
Mr. Kavanagh, a national of Ireland, holds a B.A. (Hon) degree in modern history and French literature from the National University of Ireland, which he earned in 1977. He also received diplomatic training with the then European Community.
Born on 12 March 1956, Mr. Kavanagh is married with two sons.
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