SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS RAMIRO ARMANDO DE OLIVEIRA LOPES DA SILVA

OF PORTUGAL AS NEW HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR IN IRAQ

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has decided to appoint Ramiro Armando de OliveiraLopes da Silva of Portugal as the new United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq.  Mr. Lopes da Silva will succeed Tun Myat, who was recently appointed United Nations Security Coordinator. 

The Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq is an integral part of the Office of the Iraq Programme, with the Coordinator reporting to the Executive Director of the Programme Office, Benon Sevan.  The Secretary-General established the Office of the Iraq Programme in October 1997 to consolidate the management of United Nations Secretariat activities related to Security Council resolution 986 (1995) and the Memorandum of Understanding between the United Nations and the Government of Iraq.

Mr. Lopes da Silva joined the United Nations system in 1985 and is currently Director of the Transport and Logistics Division at the World Food Programme (WFP) headquarters in Rome.  During his career, Mr. Lopes da Silva has served in several complex humanitarian emergencies, including as United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Angola (1996-1998) and as WFP’s Special Envoy for the recent crisis in Afghanistan. 

Mr. Lopes da Silva was born on 16 January 1949 and is married.

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