BIO/3212

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS ERIC FALT AS DIRECTOR OF UN INFORMATION CENTRE IN ISLAMABAD

16 December 1998


Press Release
BIO/3212
PI/1109


SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS ERIC FALT AS DIRECTOR OF UN INFORMATION CENTRE IN ISLAMABAD

19981216 Biographical Note Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Eric Falt, a national of France, as Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Islamabad, Pakistan. He is expected to take up his duties on 18 December.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Falt served, since February, as Spokesman and Head of Information for the United Nations Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, and was based in Baghdad. In this post he coordinated information activities related to the "oil-for-food" programme. In February, he organized media coverage in Baghdad of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's peace mission to Iraq.

From October 1993 to February 1997, Mr. Falt was Spokesman and Head of the Press and Information for the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH). He worked with military and police information specialists and was responsible for official statements on the political and peacekeeping activities of the United Nations in Haiti. Until July 1994, he also acted as the Spokesman for the United Nations/Organization of American States (OAS) International Civilian Mission to Haiti (MICIVIH) charged with monitoring the situation of human rights and democracy in that country.

From May 1992 to October 1993, Mr. Falt was Spokesman for the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) with responsibilities that included dissemination of information concerning all components of UNTAC. He announced the results of the United Nations-sponsored elections in May 1993.

Before beginning his service with the United Nations, Mr. Falt was Press Attache for the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations in 1991-1992. During that period, he represented his country on the Committee on Information of the General Assembly. From 1989 to early 1991, he was Press Attache for the Consulate General of France in Chicago.

Mr. Falt holds a Masters degree in American Studies and Political Science from Purdue University, Indiana, United States; degrees in English and History from the Universite Auguste et Louis Lumiere in Lyon, France; and a degree in Journalism from the Universite Francois Rabelais in Tours, France.

Born on 22 August 1962, Mr. Falt is married and has two sons.

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For information media. Not an official record.