Biographical Note

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS MARGARETA WAHLSTRÖM OF SWEDEN AS ASSISTANT

SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Margareta Wahlström of Sweden as Assistant Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action in the Secretariat for the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.  This new voluntary-funded post, based in Geneva, has been created to step up action and international cooperation on disaster risk reduction, as climate change steadily increases the number and intensity of natural disasters across the globe.

Ms. Wahlström brings to this job 25 years of extensive national and international experience in disaster management and institution-building to strengthen national capacity for disaster preparedness and risk reduction, in particular through her direct involvement as the Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator and Assistant-Secretary-General in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and the Under-Secretary-General for Disaster Response and Operations and Deputy Director Operations of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Ms. Wahlström has also held assignments as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Chief of Staff and Director Area Coordinator for Relief Recovery and Rehabilitation in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

Currently, Ms. Wahlström is a member of the Commission on Climate Change and Development, established by the Swedish Government.

Ms. Wahlström holds a Bachelor degree from the University of Stockholm.

She was born on 30 March 1950.

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*     This supersedes Press Release SG/A/883-BIO/3589-IHA/935 of 12 August 2004.

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