Secretary-General Appoints Najat Rochdi of Morocco Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident Coordinator for Lebanon

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Najat Rochdi of Morocco as his Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon, in the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon and Resident Coordinator.  Ms. Rochdi will also serve as Humanitarian Coordinator.

Ms. Rochdi succeeds Philippe Lazzarini of Switzerland, who completed his assignment on 31 March.  The Secretary-General is grateful for his accomplishments and wishes him continued success in his new appointment as Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Ms. Rochdi brings over 20 years of experience in development and humanitarian assistance and international coordination in conflict and post‑conflict areas, including through her latest assignment as Senior Adviser to the Special Envoy for Syria and Director of Peer to Peer with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Geneva.

Prior to this, Ms. Rochdi served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).  Earlier, she served as Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Cameroon and Deputy Director of the Representative Office of the United Nations Development Programme in Geneva.

Ms. Rochdi holds a doctorate in information systems from the National Institute of Statistics and of Applied Economics in Rabat, and a master’s degree in mathematics and fundamental applications from the University of Paris Sud 11.  She is fluent in Arabic, English and French.

Born in Morocco in 1961, she has four children.

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* This supersedes Press Release SG/A/1710-BIO/4938-PKO/626 of 2 March 2017.