Siddharth Chatterjee Takes Charge as Top UN Diplomat in China

By siliconindia  |  Tuesday, 16 February 2021, 05:53:59 PM IST

Siddharth Chatterjee Takes Charge as Top UN Diplomat in China

Senior UN official Siddharth Chatterjee of India has officially taken charge as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in China. This is a key posting of monitoring the work of about 27 agencies, funds and programs of the global organisation in the world’s most populous country.

Siddharth would be UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s senior-most UN Representative in China as the UN Resident Coordinator. In the initial days of his career in the Indian Army, was decorated for gallantry by the President of India in 1995. He holds a master degree in public policy from Princeton University in the United States, and a bachelor degree from the National Defence Academy in India.

Commenting on his new mission, Siddharth states, “Over the past four decades, the world has witnessed the profound economic and social transformations that have taken place in China, lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty”

He further adds, “As the UN Resident Coordinator to China, I look forward to leading the UN Country Team to work with the government to preserve this hard-won progress China has made as well as share China’s vast experience to solve global development challenges and accelerate the drive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

He has more than over 24 years of experience in the United Nations serving in a wide range of positions and organisations.

In December last year, UN Secretary-General Guterres named Siddharth as the Resident Coordinator in China with the host government’s approval. Resident Coordinators are the UN Secretary-General’s representatives for development at the country level. They lead UN teams supporting countries to recover better from the COVID-19 pandemic through the SDGs.

Prior coming to China, Siddharth served as the UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya where Kenya’s Minister for Sports Culture and Heritage Amina Mohammed said: “Siddharth’s exemplary leadership leaves a lasting footprint in the execution of Government/UN collaboration impacting millions of lives in Kenya and the region”.             

 

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