SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS KIM BOLDUC OF CANADA SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE, HEAD OF UNITED NATIONS MISSION FOR REFERENDUM IN WESTERN SAHARA

NEW YORK, May 13, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Kim Bolduc of Canada as his Special Representative for Western Sahara and Head of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

The new Special Representative succeeds Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber of Germany, who will complete his assignment on 31 July, and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his strong leadership and dedicated service during his tenure.

Ms. Bolduc brings to the appointment more than 30 years of experience in international development and humanitarian work, as well as a demonstrated record of management and leadership. She most recently served as United Nations Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Panama from 2010 to 2014, having previously been Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General/Humanitarian Coordinator for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Brazil. She held various field appointments within the United Nations system since she joined the Organization in 1987, including positions in Honduras, Iraq, Peru and Ecuador. She spent eight years working in Africa.

Ms. Bolduc obtained her master's degree in international development and cooperation from Ottawa University in Canada, and was trained in conflict resolution and humanitarian action at that institution, as well as the University of Geneva.

Born in 1952, she is married and has a son.