Biographical Note

RossMountain appointed Deputy Special Representative of Secretary-General

 

for Democratic Republic of Congo

 

The Secretary-General has decided to appoint RossMountain, a national of New Zealand, as his Deputy Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo effective 15 November 2004.  In this capacity, he will also serve as Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Previously, from January to October 2004, he served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq and, additionally, as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General ad interim from January to August 2004.  During this period, he also served as United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Iraq.

From August 1998 to December 2003, Mr. Mountain served as Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator and Director of the Geneva Office of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).  In this capacity, he served as Chair of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Working Group and served as the Secretary-General’s special representative on a number of humanitarian missions, including during the East Timor crisis (1999), the floods in Mozambique (2000) and the humanitarian crisis in Liberia (2003).

In October 2002, RossMountain led an inter-agency technical assessment mission to the West Bank and Gaza to prepare a humanitarian plan of action.  In 2003, Mr. Mountain headed the OCHA Crisis Task Team for Iraq, in which capacity he visited that country in July 2003 to review the humanitarian programme.

Mr. Mountain has had over 25 years of experience in the fields of economic and social development and humanitarian affairs.  Prior to his appointment to OCHA, he served as United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Lebanon from 1995 to 1998.  His other United Nations assignments included United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator in Haiti (1994-1995), United Nations Resident Coordinator for the Eastern Caribbean (1993-1994), United Nations Special Coordinator for Emergency Relief Operations in Liberia (1991-1993), UNDP Resident Representative a.i. in Afghanistan (1988-1991), and UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in the Sough Pacific (1985-1988).  He earlier worked in Geneva as Chief of the Information Section in the UNDP.  His first United Nations assignment was in 1973 as Inter-Agency Liaison Officer in the Division of Social Affairs in Geneva.

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*     This press release supersedes Press Release BIO/3624 of 10 December 2003.