Fifty-Ninth General Assembly

Plenary

95^th Meeting (AM)

GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONFIRMS APPOINTMENTS OF UNDP ADMINISTRATOR,

HEAD OF INTERNAL OVERSIGHT SERVICES

 

The General Assembly this morning confirmed the appointments of Kemal Derviş of Turkey as the new Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Inga-Britt Ahlenius (Sweden) as Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services.

Taking up the Secretary-General’s request for the confirmation of Mr. Derviş (document A/29/240), General Assembly President Jean Ping (Gabon) noted that the search for a new Administrator had been necessitated by the appointment of former UNDP head Mark Malloch Brown as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Chief of Staff from 18 January 2005.  Mr. Derviş will serve a four-year term beginning on 15 August 2005 and ending on 14 August 2009.  The Assembly had previously confirmed Mr. Malloch Brown’s appointment as Administrator for a four-year term starting on 1 July 1999 and a further four years commencing 1 July 2003.

The Assembly then took up the Secretary-General’s request for confirmation of Ms. Ahlenius (document A/59/109) to a fixed five-term starting on 15 July 2005 until 14 July 2010, without possibility of renewal.  The President said that the Assembly had decided, by resolution 46/232 of 2 March 1992, that as a general rule no national of a MemberState should succeed a national of that State in a senior post and that there should be no monopoly on senior posts by nationals of any State or group of States.

He recalled that in establishing the Office of Internal Oversight Services by resolution 48/218 B of 29 July 1994, the Assembly had further decided that the holder of that position should be an expert in accounting, auditing, financial analysis and investigations, management, law or public administration; and that they should be appointed with due regard to geographic rotation.  The Under-Secretary-General might be removed by the Secretary-General only for cause and with the Assembly’s approval.

The General Assembly will meet again at a date to be announced.

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