Secretary-General Appoints Atul Khare of India as Under-Secretary-General for Field Support

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Atul Khare of India as Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, Department of Field Support.  He will succeed Ameerah Haq of Bangladesh to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her commitment and dedicated service to the Organization.  The Secretary-General is particularly appreciative of Ms. Haq’s exemplary leadership of the Department of Field Support.

Mr. Khare brings to the position strategic management and innovative reform expertise in both headquarters and field perspective.  Currently providing charitable medical advice in India, Mr. Khare has a long senior career with the United Nations, most recently as Assistant Secretary-General leading the Change Management Team (2011-2012) and Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations and Deputy Head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York (2010-2011).

He was previously Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Timor-Leste and Head of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) at the level of Under-Secretary-General (2006-2009), working earlier as Chief of Staff and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General with the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET).

Former Director of The Nehru Centre and Minister (Culture), High Commission of India in London (2005-2006), Mr. Khare served during his tenure with the Indian Foreign Service in its diplomatic missions in France, Mauritius, Senegal, Thailand and the United Kingdom, as well as the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York.

Mr. Khare holds bachelor’s degrees in medicine and surgery from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, as well as master’s degrees in business administration and leadership from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia.

Born in India in 1959, he is married.

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*     This supersedes Press Release SG/A/1295-BIO/4292 of 31 May 2011.