First Nepali to get high UN position

January 6, 2000
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Kathmandu, Jan 6:The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has appointed Kul Chandra Gautam as the new Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. The appointment was made on the recommendation of Carol Bellamy, the Executive Director of UNICEF.

Although Kul Chandra Gautam is currently the highest ranking Nepali serving in the UN system, the new appointment makes him the first Nepali to hold the post of Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, according to UNICEF press statement released today.

Gautam, who is currently UNICEF Regional Director for East Asia, has had a long and distinguished career with UNICEF. He has worked with the organisation since 1973 in positions of increasing responsibility, both at country level and at headquaters. He began his career with UNICEF as Programme Officer in Cambodia and Indonesia and later served as UNICEF Representative in Laos and Haiti.

He has then transferred to UNICEF headquaters in New York, where he had responsibility for Latin America and the Caribbean, then as Director of the Planning Division and later as the Director of our Programme Division. He also served as UNICEF Representative in India – UNICEF’s largest programme. He studied international relations and economic development.