On 23 March UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Carlos Lopes of Guinea-Bissau as the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

Alumnus Carlos Lopes, who has more than 24 years of experience working at the UN, is currently serving as the Executive Director of the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and Director of the UN System Staff College, both of which are located in Europe. As a strategist and socio-economist, he has vast experience in capacity building and technical cooperation in the African continent. He also worked as the UN Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative in Brazil and Zimbabwe with the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

Headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, UNECA is one of the UN's five regional commissions, with a mandate is to promote the economic and social development of its member States, foster intra-regional integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa's development.
 

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