Secretary-General Appoints Denise Brown of Canada Deputy Special Representative, United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Mission in Central African Republic

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Denise Brown of Canada as his new Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), where she will also serve as United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator.

She succeeds Najat Rochdi of Morocco, who completed her assignment in February and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her leadership and dedicated commitment during her tenure to supporting recovery, peacebuilding and humanitarian efforts in the Central African Republic. 

Ms. Brown brings to the position over more than two decades of professional experience and extensive knowledge of humanitarian affairs and recovery programmes, with a particular concentration on complex emergencies and a thematic focus on operations, programme development, coordination and interagency relations.  She has been serving at World Food Programme (WFP) hheadquarters eadquarters in Rome since 2017, first as Director of the Emergency Preparedness and Support Response Division and then as Director of Policy and Programmes since 2018.

From 2013 to 2016, Ms. Brown was the WFP Director for West and Central Africa, based in Dakar, Senegal, and covering 20 countries.  She has spent most of her career in the field with WFP, covering a range of situations in Niger, Somalia, Kenya, Afghanistan and Iraq.  She has also worked with non-governmental organizations in Haiti and Cambodia.

Ms. Brown holds a Master of Science degree in Children’s children’s Development development from Purdue University in the, United States.

Born in 1963, she is married and has three children.