Statement by the Secretary-General-designate on the appointment of his Deputy

Secretary-General, his Chef de Cabinet, and his Senior Adviser on Policy

New York, 15 December 2016
I am pleased to announce that I will be appointing Ms. Amina J. Mohammed of Nigeria as
my Deputy Secretary-General, and Ms. Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti of Brazil as my Chef de
Cabinet.
I also intend to create the position of Special Advisor on Policy, and to appoint Ms. Kyungwha Kang of the Republic of Korea to this new role.
I am happy to count on the efforts of these three highly competent women, whom I have
chosen for their strong backgrounds in global affairs, development, diplomacy, human rights
and humanitarian action.
These appointments are the foundations of my team, which I will continue to build,
respecting my pledges on gender parity and geographical diversity.
Ms. Amina J. Mohammed is currently Minister of Environment of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, where she steers the countrys efforts to protect the natural environment and
conserve resources for sustainable development.
Prior to this role, she served as Special Adviser to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Post2015 Development Planning, where she was instrumental in bringing about the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals.
Before joining the UN, Ms. Mohammed worked for three successive administrations in
Nigeria, serving as Special Advisor on the Millennium Development Goals, providing advice
on issues including poverty, public sector reform and sustainable development, and
coordinating poverty reduction interventions.
She is also an Adjunct Professor in Development Practice at Columbia University, and serves
on numerous international advisory boards and panels, including the UN Secretary-General's
High-level Panel on Post-2015 Development Agenda, the Independent Expert Advisory
Group on the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development, the Global Development
Program of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the UN Secretary-Generals Global
Sustainability Panel, the African Womens Millennium Initiative, Girl Effect and the
ActionAid International Right to Education Project.
Born in 1961, and educated Nigeria and the UK, Ms. Mohammed is married with six
children.
Ms. Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti is presently the Under-Secretary for Asia and the Pacific at
the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she has special responsibility for work on the
BRICS. A career diplomat since 1976, she served most recently as Ambassador to Germany
from 2013 to 2016 and as Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations from
2007 to 2011.
Prior to those roles, Ms. Viotti was posted in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Braslia,
where she served as Advisor to the Minister (1990-1993), Head of the South America

Division I (1996-99), Director-General for Human Rights and Social Issues (2004-06) and
Director-General for International Organizations (2006-07), among other positions.
Earlier in her career, she was appointed to the Mission of Brazil to the United Nations from
1985 to 1988 and again from 1999 to 2004, and to the Embassy of Brazil in La Paz, Bolivia,
from 1993 to 1995.
Born in 1954, Ms. Viotti is married and has one son. She holds a bachelors degree in
economics (1979) from the University of Brasilia, where she also concluded a post-graduate
course in 1981. She also attended the Rio Branco Institute, the Brazilian diplomatic
academy.
Ms. Kyung-wha Kang is currently the Chief of the Secretary-General-designates Transition
Team. She has served as Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs since April
2013, and was Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights from January 2007 to March
2013.
Before entering the United Nations, Ms. Kang was Director General of International
Organizations at the Republic of Koreas Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade. She served
in her countrys Permanent Mission to the United Nations from September 2001 to July 2005,
during which time she chaired the Commission on the Status of Women.
Prior to joining the Foreign Ministry in 1998, Ms. Kang assisted the Speaker of the National
Assembly in parliamentary diplomacy. Earlier in her career, she worked for the Korean
Broadcasting Systems news bureau and international radio bureau, and lectured in
universities both in her own country and in the United States.
Born in 1955, Ms. Kang is married and has three children. She graduated from Yonsei
University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and diplomacy. She also has a Master
of Arts in mass communication and a PhD in intercultural communication from the
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in the United States.