Mrs Amina Mohammed, the Immediate past Minister of Environment has just been sworn in as UN Deputy Secretary-General.
She served as a Minister under the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for a period of one year and three months, before her appointment at the UN.
Mrs. Mohammed, who was appointed by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres on December 15, 2016 as his deputy, was supposed to assume office on January 1.
She, however, delayed the assumption of her new role at the request of President Muhammadu Buhari to complete some ongoing responsibilities she was handling at that time.
The office of the UN Deputy Secretary-General was formally established by the General Assembly in 1997 to handle many of the administrative responsibilities of the Secretary-General.
As the fifth Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Mohammed will help to manage the UN Secretariat operations, and “ensuring inter-sectoral and inter-institutional coherence of activities and programmes”.
She will also support the Secretary-General in elevating “the profile and leadership of the UN in the economic and social spheres, including further efforts to strengthen the UN as a leading centre for development policy and development assistance”.
