| PHOTO: | Amy Pope, new IOM Director General.
Image: COURTESY/IOM |
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By:
FELIX KIPKEMOI
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| Posted:
May,17-2023 11:31:30
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A former White House advisor has been elected as the director general for the UN body-International Organization for Migration.
Amy Pope, 49, who now ascend to the position as the first woman to lead the global body, defeated the incumbent António Vitorino garnering 98-67 votes in the first round.
Pope earned an unassailable victory through strong backing from President Biden's administration which nominated her.
“It is an incredible moment in time to lead the International Organization for Migration, and I could not be happier to stand before you today to start that work,” she said after being declared the winner.
Pope has been the deputy director general having been appointed in September 2021.
Vitorino, a Portuguese, was being backed by the European Union to defend the seat.
He was elected in 2018 on a five-year term after flooring a candidate put up by the Donald Trump administration to the job that has long been held by Americans.
Eight of the agency’s 10 directors general, since it was founded 72 years ago, are Americans.
IOM with offices in 171 countries across the globe has nearly 19,000 staff working to promote “humane and orderly” migration.
Pope starts her term on October 1.
Before being appointed to the body, she served as a senior advisor on migration to President Biden and also previously worked as a deputy assistant to the President and Deputy Homeland security advisor from 2015-17).
She has also served as a special assistant to the President and senior director on trans-border security (2013-15).
“At the White House, she developed and implemented comprehensive strategies to manage migration surges, address trafficking in persons, respond to the Zika and Ebola outbreaks, and prepare communities to react to climate crises,” IOM said in a statement.
During her tenure, she implemented a series of budgetary, management and administrative reforms to optimize IOM’s field delivery and risk management, enhanced internal justice outcomes and operational results, and strengthen coordination with the United Nations system.
“Pope’s election reflects a broad endorsement by member states of her vision to keep people at the heart of IOM’s mission, while implementing key governance and budget reforms to ensure IOM is prepared to meet the challenges it faces,” US secretary of state Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Vitorino visited Kenya in February to launch the launch of the 2023 Migrant Response Plan (MRP).
IOM requires a total of Sh10 billion ($84 million) to support over one million migrants from the Horn of Africa is targeted in the initiative.
It says every year more than 250,000 migrants including young men, women and children leave their countries in the Horn of Africa for the Gulf nations in search of better livelihood opportunities.
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Source:
The Star
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