Biographical Note

Secretary-General Appoints David Smith of United Kingdom Director

 

of United Nations Information Centre in Buenos Aires

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is pleased to announce the appointment of David Smith as Director of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  He will assume his new duties on 19 July.

Since January 2004, Mr. Smith has been the Deputy Director for the United Nations Information Centre in Washington, D.C., liaising with the United States Congress, successive United States Administrations and managing outreach, to the media, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, universities and other United Nations system entities in Washington.  Prior to joining the United Nations, from October 1978 to October 2003, he was the Bureau Chief/correspondent for Britain’s Independent Television News (ITN), working as a correspondent in Washington, D.C., Moscow, Jerusalem, Beirut, and Nairobi, reporting from Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and widely throughout Latin America.  During that time, he taught journalism as a Visiting Professor at the Universities of Michigan and Maryland, focusing on the role of the foreign correspondent in influencing foreign policy.  From September 1974 to September 1978, he worked as a correspondent for Reuters in the United Kingdom, covering Spain from 1975 to 1976 and Italy from 1977 to 1978.

Mr. Smith, a national of the United Kingdom, holds a Master of Arts degree in humanities from Lincoln College, Oxford University.  He is married and has three sons and one daughter.

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For information media • not an official record