OMBUDSMAN APPOINTED FOR UN IN VIENNA

(Reissued as received.)

VIENNA, 9 April (UN Information Service) -- Kwame Tua Opoku, 63, of Ghana, has been appointed the first Ombudsman of the United Nations Office in Vienna, as well as of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.  Mr. Opoku is a
United Nations retiree with 22 years of service with the Organization.  His services as the Ombudsman will be available to United Nations staff in Vienna beginning in early May.

The establishment of the Office of Ombudsman is another step in the ongoing effort to improve the governance of the office, and to provide the staff with mechanisms to enhance the resolution of disputes thereby contributing to a more productive work environment.

Mr. Opoku has an LL.B, M.C.L. and a Doctorat d'Etat (Doctorat en Droit).  His previous work experience with the United Nations was first as Deputy Legal Liaison Officer, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and then as Legal Liaison Officer/Senior Legal Liaison Officer, United Nations Office at Vienna.  During his career at the United Nations he has served as Secretary of the Joint Appeals Board and Joint Disciplinary Committee, and also as Coordinator of the Panel on Discrimination and other Grievances.  He is fluent in English, French and German.

For more information, consult United Nations Information Service Vienna (UNIS), P.O. Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria, tel.: (+43-1) 26060 4666,
fax: (+43-1) 26060 5899, e-mail: UNIS@unvienna.org; or visit the UNIS homepage: www.unis.unvienna.org.

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