Secretary-General Appoints Ursula Mueller of Germany Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Ursula Mueller of Germany as Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.  She will succeed Kyung-wha Kang of the Republic of Korea, who is currently serving as Chief of the Transition Team in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General.

Ms. Mueller has over 30 years of experience in international affairs, global issues and development financing.  She has been German Executive Director to the Board of Executive Directors at the World Bank Group since September 2014, responsible for a range of issues including strategy, policy, budget and the approval of programmes worth $62 billion in 2016.  She has consistently worked to foster close cooperation between the World Bank and the United Nations.

Prior to this role, Ms. Mueller served as Director-General in Germany’s Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (2012-2014), and as Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2010-2012).  She was Germany’s Chargée d’Affaires in Reykjavik (2010) and coordinated a taskforce in the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs to respond to the global Financial Crisis in (2009-2010).

Ms. Mueller has significant humanitarian and field experience.  She was Germany’s Humanitarian Coordinator (2006-2009), during which she managed Germany’s multimillion-dollar humanitarian budget, oversaw all of Germany’s humanitarian operations and took forward initiatives on landmines and conflict prevention.  During this time she also served on the Advisory Board of the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund and the Advisory Board to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA).  Ms. Mueller was Germany’s Special Envoy to Afghanistan (2001-2002), and was Germany’s Civil Coordinator in Kosovo (2000).

Ms. Mueller graduated from Germany’s Foreign Affairs Institute with a Master of Arts in Public Policy and Public Administration, and studied economics the University of Hagen, Germany.