A biographical note for Mr. Feltman appears below this Statement by the Secretary-General:
From the very beginning of my mandate, I have announced that reforming the Secretariat Peace and Security strategy, functioning and architecture would be a key priority. I decided to this end to establish an internal review team led by Mr. Tamrat Samuel. This team will submit recommendations to me by June 2017, in order to initiate a process of consultations with Member States and relevant entities, and in the end take appropriate action in due course.
This important work will require both expertise and experience from principals and all staff members.
Pending those evolutions, I decided that the mandate of senior officials working in the Peace and Security pillar should be maintained for another one year. Accordingly, the mandates of Mr. Jeffrey Feltman, as Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Mr. Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, and Mr. Atul Khare, as Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, will be extended for one year until 1 April 2018.
Mr. Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, informed me that he would be unavailable for an extension at the end of his current contract on 31 March 2017. I would like to express my gratitude for his service to the United Nations, his tireless efforts and dedication to peacekeeping, especially in modernizing capacities both to address multidimensional crises and protect civilian populations.
I intend to appoint Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, as Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, for one year beginning 1 April 2017. Mr. Lacroix, who is currently Director for the United Nations and International Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France, brings to the position over 25 years of political and diplomatic experience, mostly handling multilateral organizations, United Nations activities and programmes.
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SG/A/1352-BIO/4376-PA/9
11 June 2012
Secretary-General Appoints Jeffrey D. Feltman of United States as Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Jeffrey D. Feltman of the United States as Under-Secretary-Generalfor Political Affairs. Mr. Feltman will replace B. Lynn Pascoe, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service to the United Nations and for his able leadership of the Department of Political Affairs during a challenging period.
Mr. Feltman, who recently served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs with the rank of Career Minister, brings to the position over 26 years of political and diplomatic experience within the United States foreign service, mostly handling Eastern European and Middle Eastern affairs.
Mr. Feltman served as United States Ambassador to Lebanon until 2008, previously heading the Coalition Provisional Authority’s office in the Irbil province of Iraq, acting simultaneously as Deputy Regional Coordinator. He served until 2003 as Acting Principal Officer at the United States Consulate-General in Jerusalem and until 2001 as the Ambassador’s Special Assistant on Peace Process issues in the United States Embassy of Tel Aviv. Prior to this, he was Chief of the Political and Economic Section at the United States Embassy in Tunisia after having covered economic issues in the Gaza strip until 1998 at the United States Embassy in Tel Aviv.
Mr. Feltman served until 1993 in the Office of Deputy Secretary Eagleburger as Special Assistant coordinating United States assistance to countries of Eastern and Central Europe, and acted as economic officer at the United States Embassy in Hungary till 1991, after completing his posting as a consular officer in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Mr. Feltman, who speaks Arabic, French and Hungarian, received his bachelor’s degree in history and fine arts from Ball State University and his master’s degree in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Born in 1959, Mr. Feltman is married.