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Press Release Secretary-General Department of Public Information - News Coverage and Accreditation Service - New York

SG/SM/6967 DEV/2203 23 April 1999

SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES MEW UNDP ADMINISTRATOR MARK MM.LOCH BROWN AS ARTICULATE. PERSUASIVE. DEVOTED TO CAUSE OF DEVELOPEEHT

Following are Secretary-General 's remarks at Headquarters today, as he introduced the new Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), , whose appointment will take effect on 1 July:

As you know, Gus Speth will be leaving the United Nations Development Programme this summer to take up a post at Yale University. He said, when he accepted a second term two years ago, that six years would be enough for him to complete what he set out to accomplish — and he has splendidly fulfilled his pledge.

For six years, Gus has been one of the United Nations most effective and articulate leaders. He has advanced a vision of development that is both sustainable and centred on the real life experience of human beings. And he has worked tirelessly to translate this concept into concrete and concerted action, especially for development in Africa.

He has also made an invaluable contribution to the success of my reform programme. Not only has he ably reshaped and revitalized UNDP itself. He has also got the new United Nations Development Group off to a flying start. And he has ensured that those reforms fed into the work of the whole United Nations system, contributing to greater unity of action where it counts most — at the level of individual countries.

I have relied heavily on him to move the reform forward -- and my confidence has clearly been shared by donor governments, 13 of which have pledged to increase their contributions to UNDP this year. We are all going to miss him very badly. In paying him this tribute, I wish Gus Speth great success in his future endeavours. Yale is lucky to have him.

In looking for a successor to Gus, I had three main criteria in mind. I wanted a person with experience of management in a major organization which has to change and adapt as the world changes around it, continuing and building on what Gus has done. I wanted a strong and effective advocate of

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United Nations development activities and ideas, not only with donor governments but in the wider public debate. It seemed vital to me that we establish a close working relationship between UNDP and the .

I thought of Mark Malloch Brown as a person likely to fill all of my three criteria.

He is someone I have known and admired for many years, with a strong record of service both in the United Nations and in the World Bank. He is a most articulate and persuasive person, who all his life has been devoted in one way or other to the cause of development.

I would note in particular his success in upgrading the Bank's presence in Europe and in attracting funds from donors both there and elsewhere, including persuading Congress to clear the United States arrears. I am sure he will strengthen UNDP's relationships with all its donors in a similar way.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to tell you that this morning the General Assembly has approved my nomination. I therefore have great pleasure in presenting to you the Administrator-Designate of UNDP, Mark Malloch Brown. Press Release United Nations

Department of Public Information • News Coverage and Accreditation Service • New York

Biographical Note BIO/3226 DEV/2202 23 April 1999

MARK MRLLOCH BROWN APPOINTED ADMINISTRATOR OF TOT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Mark Malloch Brown was confirmed today by the General Assembly as the next Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), following his appointment by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to a four-year term beginning 1 July. Mr. Malloch Brown will replace , who was appointed Administrator in 1993 and who has announced his resignation.

Since January 1996, Mr. Malloch Brown has been the Vice-President for External Affairs of the World Bank. In February of that year he also assumed the post of Vice-President for United Nations Affairs. He joined the World Bank in 1994 as the Director of External Affairs.

Prior to joining the World Bank, Mr. Malloch Brown was a partner in the communications management firm, The Sawyer Miller Group, where he led its international practice. During his tenure at Sawyer Miller, he implemented competitive communications strategies for corporations, governments and political candidates. He advised President of the when she ran against , as well as many other presidential candidates, particularly in Latin America. Other political campaigns included the "No" referendum in and strategic advice on privatization in Eastern Europe and Russia.

Mr. Malloch Brown founded Development Report, a monthly report on the community and political economy of development for The Economist, and served as the report's editor from 1983 to 1986. From 1979 to 1983, he worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). From 1979 to 1981, he was stationed in , where he was in charge of field operations for Cambodian refugees. In 1981, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Emergency Unit in Geneva, undertaking extensive missions in the Horn of Africa and Central America, as well as developing procedures for dealing with crises of mass influx. In 1981, the UNHCR and its staff were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Active in human rights and refugee issues, Mr. Malloch Brown served as Vice-chairman of the Board of Refugees International in Washington, D.C. and as a member of the Soros Advisory Committee on Bosnia from 1993 to 1994. He has also written and broadcast extensively about these matters.

A British citizen, Mr. Malloch Brown was educated at Cambridge University, where he received a First Class Honor's Degree in History from Magdalene College, and at the , where he received a Master's degree in political science.

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