Biographical Note

Secretary-General appoints aracelly santana of ecuador as deputy special

representative, deputy head of United Nations Mission in Nepal

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Aracelly Santana of Ecuador as his Deputy Special Representative for Nepal and Deputy Head of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN).  Ms. Santana, presently the Chief of Staff of UNMIN, will replace Tamrat Samuel and will assume her new functions on 21 April.  The Secretary-General appreciates Mr. Samuel’s contribution to the work of the United Nations in Nepal and looks forward to his continued service at Headquarters.

Ms. Santana has served the Organization since 1980 in various capacities.  Since joining the United Nations, she has been responsible for a number of active portfolios both in the Africa and Americas regions in the Department of Political Affairs.  Between 1980 and 1992 she was with the Centre against Apartheid, where she was responsible, among other things, for organizing the two missions of the Secretary-General to South Africa in the lead-up to the negotiations that ended apartheid.

From the late 1990s her portfolio focused on the Americas and she was Deputy Director for the Americas until 2005.  Subsequently, her functions focused on electoral matters and she served as Officer-in-Charge and Deputy Director of the Electoral Assistance Division until September 2007.  In addition, she has undertaken several political postings in the Balkans, notably as Chief of Staff for the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Head of Liaison Office in Croatia, Civil Affairs Coordinator for the United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNPROFOR) Sub-Office in Belgrade, and Senior Political Adviser for UNPROFOR headquarters, Croatia.

Born in 1946, Ms. Santana holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Newcomb College, Tulane University, in New Orleans, and a master’s degree in political economy from the Graduate Faculty – New School for Social Research of New York.

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For information media • not an official record