UNITED NATIONS, March 21 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Denise Brown of Canada as his deputy special representative in Central African Republic, the UN press office said Thursday.
Brown is also appointed as the secretary-general's deputy special representative for the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the CAR -- the UN peacekeeping mission -- as well as the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, said the office in a statement.
Brown succeeds Najat Rochdi of Morocco, who completed her assignment in February 2019.
"The secretary-general is grateful for Rochdi's leadership and dedicated commitment during her tenure to supporting recovery, peacebuilding and humanitarian efforts in the Central African Republic," the statement added.
Brown brings to the position over two decades of professional experience and an extensive knowledge in humanitarian affairs and recovery programmes with a particular focus on contexts of complex emergencies, and a thematic focus on operations, programme development, coordination and interagency relations.
She has been serving at World Food Programme (WFP) headquarters in Rome since 2017, first as Director of the Emergency Preparedness and Support Response Division then, since 2018, as Director of Policy and Programmes.
From 2013 to 2016, she was the WFP Director for West and Central Africa based in Dakar, Senegal and covering 20 countries.
Brown has spent most of her career based in the field, with WFP, covering a range of situations in Niger, Somalia, Kenya, Afghanistan and Iraq. She has also worked in Haiti and Cambodia with non-governmental organizations.
Brown holds a Master of Science degree in Children's Development from Purdue University, United States.
