Irish Diplomat to head key UN Task Force

The President of the General Assembly, Ambassador Srgian Kerim, has appointed Paul Kavanagh, Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations, as Co-Chair of a key Working Group on UN reform. The task is to promote greater coherence in the efforts of the UN system world-wide. Welcoming the appointment, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern T.D. said today:

“I am confident Ambassador Kavanagh will do a first-class job, for Ireland as well as the United Nations, in this important role.”

“Ambassador Kavanagh brings to his new responsibilities unparalleled  experience of the United Nations, having worked for a decade and a half in key positions with three successive UN Secretaries General. He has worked closely with me as Ireland’s Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva and at the European Union in Brussels. He had a central role in Ireland’s campaign for election to the Security Council in 2000 and subsequently in our delegation on the Council.”

“Continuing reform is underway at the United Nations, but greater coherence is required across the work of its broad system of Agencies, Funds and Programmes in the development, humanitarian and other fields. In this way the UN will better serve all of its Member States and peoples in need.”

Note for Editors:

In 2006, Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed a High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence to provide insight into building a more effective, coherent and better-performing UN system.  The Panel was made up of numerous eminent international figures and was co-chaired by three serving Prime Ministers, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz of Pakistan, Prime Minister Luísa Dias Diogo of Mozambique and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway.  Its membership also included the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Gordon Brown and Mr Louis Michel, European Union Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid. 

The panel report delivered in November 2006, contained numerous wide-ranging recommendations in the area of development, environment and humanitarian assistance, as well as recommendations on reform of the governance structures, funding and business practices of the UN.

At the intergovernmental level, the process of consideration of these recommendations began under the chairmanship of Barbados and Luxembourg.  Ireland and Tanzania will take over this chairmanship and will address a wide range of issues including the accountability, transparency and cost effectiveness within the UN system. 

Ends + + +
Press
16/1/08