UN Names Head of Peacekeeping Support

The U.N. on Friday appointed an Argentine management expert to head a new department supporting peacekeeping operations and named as the organization's ombudsmen an American expert in conflict resolution.

Susana Malcorra, one of Latin America's leading businesswomen, is currently deputy executive director for operations and management at the U.N. World Food Program in Rome. She will be the first undersecretary-secretary in the Department of Field Support.

In the new post, Malcorra will direct all support for the 32 U.N. field operations, currently comprising more 100,000 military, police and civilian personnel, U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.

Malcorra, an electrical engineer, spent 25 years in the private sector, rising to senior posts at IBM and then at Telecom Argentina where she became CEO. She joined the World Food Program in September 2004.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday also appointed Johnston Barkat as U.N. ombudsman. Barkat will have the rank of assistant secretary-general and will head an office that will serve the U.N. Secretariat and all the U.N. funds and programs, U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.

Okabe, who announced the appointment, said Barkat and his team will facilitate informal resolution of conflicts and mediate issues involving U.N. staff around the world. He will also help identify systemwide problems and propose recommendations to improve U.N. policies and procedures, she said.

Barkat was an ombudsman at Pace University and an instructor of conflict resolution and mediation at Columbia University's International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution.