Guyanese appointed to top UN post

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Catherine Pollard of Guyana as the next Under-Secretary-General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance.  She will succeed Jan Beagle of New Zealand to whom the Secretary-General is deeply grateful for her extraordinary work in management reform in the United Nations system and 40 years of dedicated service to the Organization.

Ms. Pollard brings to the position over three decades of experience in human, financial, information communications technology and support operations and services.  She is currently Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Affairs, a position she assumed in 2015.  Her previous leadership roles include Assistant Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management and Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management.

She joined the United Nations in 1989 as Chief of National Executive Projects at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  She then served the United Nations in various capacities, including as Chief Budget Officer for the United Nations Operations in Yugoslavia and Central Headquarters, Chief of the Budget and Finance Section of the United Nations Volunteers, Director of the Peacekeeping Finance Division in the Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts and Chief of Staff in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

Ms. Pollard holds a master’s degree in accounting from the University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica. (United Nations Press Release)