Secretary-General Appoints Hiroyuki Saito Director of United Nations Information Centre in Dakar

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Hiroyuki Saito of Japan as Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Dakar.  He assumed his new duties on 12 January 2024.

Mr. Saito has 20 years of experience in journalism, multimedia and strategic communications.  Most recently he worked on crisis communications and information integrity issues in Africa.  Prior to that, he served as Regional Communications Officer for Africa, providing communications support to over 50 country teams in the region.  Previously, he worked for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).  During these missions and as head of Corporate Communications and Advocacy at the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, he held management roles, supervising numerous professional staff and the associated budgets.

Prior to the United Nations, Mr. Saito worked in the communications field as a video journalist, media coordinator and producer for several media outlets, including Fox Television, TV-Tokyo Network, Travelzoo and an NBC-affiliate TV station.

Mr. Saito holds a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in the United States, a bachelor’s degree in literature from Waseda University in Japan and a Certificat de langue française Niveau Supérieur from the Cours de civilisation française de la Sorbonne, France.

He is fluent in English, French and Japanese.