New York, 2 March 2018. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced today the appointment of Jessica Faieta of Ecuador as his new Deputy Special Representative and Deputy Head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia at the Assistant Secretary-General level.

Ms. Faieta will succeed Tania Patriota of Brazil, to whom the Secretary‑General is grateful for her dedicated service and commitment in support of the peace process in Colombia.

Ms. Faieta brings over 25 years of distinguished service with the United Nations system. Since 2014, she has been the Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where she was previously the Deputy Regional Director. Prior to this, she served as Senior Country Director in Haiti, and UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in El Salvador and Belize. She also served in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General as Director of the Office of the Deputy Secretary-General.  Earlier in her career, Ms. Faieta served in the Office of the UNDP Administrator and in field assignments in Argentina, Cuba, Guyana and Panama.

Ms. Faieta holds a Master of International Affairs as well as a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University in New York, USA. She is also a Yale University World Fellow.

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