Noeleen Heyzer, UNIFEM executive director, has recently been appointed Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok with the rank of Under-Secretary-General.

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) executive director Noeleen Heyzer has just been appointed Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, Thailand with the rank of Under-Secretary-General on July 30, 2007. ESCAP is mandated to address  some of the region’s greatest challenges including poverty reduction, managing globalisation, and tackling emerging social issues.

Being the first woman to head ESCAP, Heyzer expressed that her appointment is indeed “a great honour and an exciting opportunity.”

“The Asia-Pacific region has tremendous development experiences and diversity and I will focus my efforts on bringing a more integrated approach to advancing its social, economic and environmental agenda,” said Heyzer.

Reflecting on her time as executive director of UNIFEM since 1994, she added, “It has been an enormous privilege to lead such a dynamic organisation and to be an integral part of advancing women's human rights and gender equality. It is by now widely recognised that development efforts will fail without empowering women, and I will bring my experience and expertise on gender issues to my position at ESCAP.”

Heyzer has been the first executive director from the South to head UNIFEM, the leading operational agency within the UN to promote women's empowerment and gender equality. Since joining UNIFEM, Heyzer has worked on strengthening women's economic security and rights; promoting women's leadership in conflict resolution, peace building and governance; ending violence against women; and combating HIV/AIDS from a gender perspective. She played a critical role in the UN Security Council's adoption of Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security and undertook extensive missions to conflict-affected countries worldwide to ensure its implementation to make a difference in women's lives on the ground. Heyzer has also served as a board member of Isis International-Manila in the 1990s.

Source:
“Noeleen Heyzer Appointed Under-Secretary-General to Head the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)” from United Nations Development Fund for Women, posted on July 30, 2007, <http://www.unifem.org/news_events/story_detail.php?StoryID=607>.