Biographical Note

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS KEVIN KENNEDY OF UNITED STATES

 

AS ACTING HEAD, DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY AND SECURITY

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Kevin Kennedy of the United States as Acting Head, Department of Safety and Security.

Mr. Kennedy will replace Gregory B. Starr who announced his intention to leave the position of Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security due to personal and family reasons.  The Secretary-General is deeply grateful to Mr. Starr for his tireless dedication and able leadership of the Department of Safety and Security.

Mr. Kennedy, who recently served as Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), brings to the position extensive experience in organizing the international community’s responses to humanitarian emergencies worldwide at the strategic, political, policy and field levels.

Having joined the United Nations in 1993, Mr. Kennedy has served as Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Director of the Coordination and Response Division in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.  He has also held senior humanitarian positions in the Sudan, Iraq, the Balkans, Timor-Leste and Somalia.

A national of the United States and Ireland, Mr. Kennedy was born in 1947.  He is married and has four children.

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*     This supersedes Press Release SG/A/1234-BIO/4190 of 29 April 2010.

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