Nairobi,
19 January 2007 - A strengthened
management team is ushering in the New Year at the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with
the filling of several key posts at the top of the
Nairobi-headquartered organization.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP
Executive Director, said of the appointments: “The
management skills, experience, knowledge and
intellectual rigor of each one of the new
appointments will bring enhanced capacity, vision
and action to UNEP in order to fulfill its mandate
and meet the big challenges facing the environment
and sustainable development in the early 21st
century.”
The senior positions involve new directors at the
divisions of Technology, Industry and Economics;
Early Warning and Assessment, Environmental Policy
Implementation; and the Environmental Management
Group Secretariat:
Sylvie Lemmet, a French national, has been appointed
Director of the Division of Technology, Industry and
Economics (DTIE), located in Paris. Lemmet has
worked with the private sector, NGOs, international
organizations and most recently as Senior Auditor
with the French Cour des Comptes;
Peter Gilruth, a US national, has been appointed
Director of the Division of Early Warning and
Assessment (DEWA). He brings to UNEP more than 20
years of experience as an environmental scientist,
project manager and strategist from the US
Government, academia, the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and currently the private sector;
Ibrahim Thiaw has been appointed Director of the
Division of Environmental Policy and Implementation
(DEPI). A national of Mauritania, he brings to UNEP
more than 22 years of expertise in the fields of
natural resource management and environmental policy
at the national, Pan African and global levels,
including most recently as Acting Director-General
of IUCN;
Janos Pasztor, a Hungarian national, has been
appointed Chief of the Environment Management Group
(EMG) Secretariat. He joined the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development in 1990,
and since 1993 has held senior positions with the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
where he is currently the Coordinator of the
Project-based Mechanisms Programme with a team of
more than 50 staff.
The other senior appointees are
Juanita Castaño,
who has been appointed Chief of the UNEP New York
liaison office; Paul
Akiwumi as Chief of the Executive Office
or ‘Chef de Cabinet’; and,
John Scanlon as Special Advisor on Policy
and Operational Matters in the Executive Office. The
full suite of senior recruitments will be completed
with the appointment of Director of the UNEP/Global
Environment Facility Division. The search for a
suitable candidate is underway.
For more information please contact Nick Nuttall,
UNEP Spokesperson, on Tel: +254 20 7623084, Mobile:
+254 733 632755, E-mail:
nick.nuttall@unep.org.
