Foreign Minister meets with UN Deputy Secretary General

Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno met this evening with Dr. Asha Rose Migiro, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, who is visiting Chile to chair the Annual Meeting for Regional Coordination of ECLAC.

The meeting addressed several issues of the multilateral agenda, such as Chile’s contribution to the United Nations System, particularly in the areas of development, as well as international peace and security.

The high official highlighted as priorities for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon the challenges posed by the Millennium Development Goals and the current situation of Haiti. Dr. Migiro particularly thanked Chile’s active participation in the reconstruction of the Caribbean country.

The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General was appointed to this position in January 2007 by the Secretary General of the Organization. She is the third to hold this position since its creation in 1997, after Louise Fréchette and Mark Malloch Brown.

This position was established by the General Assembly in 1997 as part of the United Nations reform, in order to assist the Secretary-General in managing the operations of the Secretariat. Among other responsibilities, the Deputy Secretary-General must act for the Secretary-General in his/her absence, represent  him/her at conferences and official functions,  support him/her in ensuring inter-sectoral and inter-institutional coherence of the activities and programs of United Nations, as well as contributing to raise the profile and leadership of the organization in the social and economic spheres.

Born in the Republic of Tanzania, the UN Deputy Secretary-General served previously as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Minister of Community Development, Gender and Children of her country. In the academic field, Dr. Migiro is a Professor at the Law Faculty of Dar-es-Salaam University.

At the meeting with Minister Moreno the Deputy Secretary-General was accompanied by Alicia Bárcena, Excusive Secretary of ECLAC and Gary Stahl, Director of UNICEF Chile and Resident Coordinator.