Top Political Affairs, Peacekeeping, Field Support Officials to Stay on Another Year, as Secretary-General Reveals Secretariat Peace, Security Strategy

The following statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres was issued today:

From the very beginning of my mandate, I have announced that reforming the Secretariat peace and security strategy, functioning and architecture would be a key priority.  I decided to this end to establish an internal review team led by Tamrat Samuel.  This team will submit recommendations to me by June 2017, in order to initiate a process of consultations with Member States and relevant entities, and in the end take appropriate action in due course.  This important work will require both expertise and experience from principals and all staff members.

Pending those evolutions, I decided that the mandate of senior officials working in the Peace and Security pillar should be maintained for another one year.  Accordingly, the mandates of Jeffrey Feltman as Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, and Atul Khare as Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, will be extended for one year until 1 April 2018.

Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, informed me that he would be unavailable for an extension at the end of his current contract on 31 March 2017.  I would like to express my gratitude for his service to the United Nations, his tireless efforts and dedication to peacekeeping, especially in modernizing capacities, both to address multidimensional crises and protect civilian populations.

I intend to appoint Jean-Pierre Lacroix as Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations for one year beginning on 1 April 2017.  Mr. Lacroix, who is currently Director for the United Nations and International Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France, brings to the position over 25 years of political and diplomatic experience, mostly handling multilateral organizations, United Nations activities and programmes.