SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES NEW UNDP ADMINISTRATOR MARK MALLOCH BROWN AS ARTICULATE, PERSUASIVE, DEVOTED TO CAUSE OF DEVELOPMENT
Press Release
SG/SM/6967
DEV/2203
SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES NEW UNDP ADMINISTRATOR MARK MALLOCH BROWN AS ARTICULATE, PERSUASIVE, DEVOTED TO CAUSE OF DEVELOPMENT
19990423 Following are Secretary-General Kofi Annan's remarks at Headquarters today, as he introduced the new Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mark Malloch Brown, whose appointment will take effect on 1 July:As you know, Gus Speth will be leaving the United Nations Development Programme this summer to take up a post at Yale University. He said, when he accepted a second term two years ago, that six years would be enough for him to complete what he set out to accomplish -- and he has splendidly fulfilled his pledge.
For six years, Gus has been one of the United Nations most effective and articulate leaders. He has advanced a vision of development that is both sustainable and centred on the real life experience of human beings. And he has worked tirelessly to translate this concept into concrete and concerted action, especially for development in Africa.
He has also made an invaluable contribution to the success of my reform programme. Not only has he ably reshaped and revitalized UNDP itself. He has also got the new United Nations Development Group off to a flying start. And he has ensured that those reforms fed into the work of the whole United Nations system, contributing to greater unity of action where it counts most -- at the level of individual countries.
I have relied heavily on him to move the reform forward -- and my confidence has clearly been shared by donor governments, 13 of which have pledged to increase their contributions to UNDP this year. We are all going to miss him very badly. In paying him this tribute, I wish Gus Speth great success in his future endeavours. Yale is lucky to have him.
In looking for a successor to Gus, I had three main criteria in mind. I wanted a person with experience of management in a major organization which has to change and adapt as the world changes around it, continuing and building on what Gus has done. I wanted a strong and effective advocate of
- 2 - Press Release SG/SM/6967 DEV/2203 23 April 1999
United Nations development activities and ideas, not only with donor governments but in the wider public debate. It seemed vital to me that we establish a close working relationship between UNDP and the World Bank.
I thought of Mark Malloch Brown as a person likely to fill all of my three criteria.
He is someone I have known and admired for many years, with a strong record of service both in the United Nations and in the World Bank. He is a most articulate and persuasive person, who all his life has been devoted in one way or other to the cause of development.
I would note in particular his success in upgrading the Bank's presence in Europe and in attracting funds from donors both there and elsewhere, including persuading Congress to clear the United States arrears. I am sure he will strengthen UNDP's relationships with all its donors in a similar way.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to tell you that this morning the General Assembly has approved my nomination. I therefore have great pleasure in presenting to you the Administrator-Designate of UNDP, Mark Malloch Brown.
* *** *