New deputy head of UNICEF appointed

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday announced the appointment of Johanna Brandt, a Dutch national, as the deputy executive director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). "Ms. Brandt will succeed Hilde Frafjord Johnson, who was appointed special representative of the UN secretary-general for South Sudan," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told a daily news briefing here. "The secretary-general would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Johnson for her exceptional service and commitment to UNICEF." Working in over 150 countries, UNICEF provides children with health care, clean water, nutrition, education, protection, emergency relief, and more. "Brandt brings to the position strong analytical skills and a deep commitment to working toward a more equitable and sustainable development as well as timely and effective emergency response to humanitarian disasters," the spokesman said. She has worked extensively on developing and overseeing cooperation programs and is an expert on development and emergency response issues, Nesirky said, adding that she has lived and worked in Uganda, Eritrea, Kenya and South Africa. Since 2008, Brandt has served as the director general for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and prior to that as deputy director-general. Until earlier this year, she was the chairperson of the Advisory Group of the Central Emergency Response Fund (OCHA). She has also served as the ambassador of the Netherlands to Eritrea and Uganda. Brandt holds a master's degree in geography and development from Utrecht University in the Netherlands.