Rebaba Fatima Appointed as New Head of UNAMA by UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has appointed Rabab Fatima, a senior Bangladeshi diplomat, as the new head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and his Special Representative for Afghanistan. This decision was announced by the UN on Friday, July 10, 2023.
According to the statement released, Rabab Fatima will succeed Roza Otunbayeva in this position. UNAMA is considered the UN’s most important political mission in Afghanistan, responsible for coordinating the organization’s activities in political, human rights, and humanitarian sectors.
Rabab Fatima has over three decades of experience in diplomacy, human rights, development, and peacebuilding. Previously, she served as the UN Under-Secretary-General and the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries.
In 2020, she chaired the UNICEF Executive Board, and in 2022, she became the first woman to lead the UN Peacebuilding Commission.
Rabab Fatima was also Bangladesh’s permanent representative to the United Nations from 2019 to 2022 and served as her country’s ambassador to Japan before that. Her appointment comes at a time when UNAMA’s mission in Afghanistan continues to face complex political and humanitarian challenges.
