United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced on 21 December 2022 the appointment of Michal Mlynár of Slovakia as Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). He will succeed Victor Kisob of Cameroon, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service to the Organization.
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Currently Slovakia's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations (since 2017), Mr. Mlynár brings almost 30 years of professional experience as a diplomat and an educator, having served his country in multiple senior assignments focused mainly on international organizations, security sector governance, development cooperation, humanitarian aid and Africa.
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His wide experience in multilateral affairs will facilitate efforts to re-position UN-Habitat’s mandate among Member States. In times of global crises including climate, conflicts and COVID-19, Mr. Mlynár will contribute to strengthening multilateral dialogue and cooperation among Member States and donors to enhance the implementation of the New Urban Agenda in the context of the 2030 Agenda to ensure that no one and no place is left behind in our rapidly urbanizing world.
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During his term as Slovakia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, he has served as Vice President of the UNICEF Executive Board (2022), Vice Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission (2021), Chair of the Sixth Committee (Legal) (2019-2020), three-time co-Chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly (2018-2021) and Vice President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2018-2021).ÌýIn 2021-2022 he was aÌýmember of the Advisory Committee on Sustainable Urbanization to the President of the General Assembly.
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His previous ambassadorial assignment (2012-2015) was to Kenya, with accreditation to eleven other African countries and the United Nations agencies based in Nairobi. At that time, he also served as Chair of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to UN-Habitat (2014-2015) and then assumed the role of the President of its Governing Council (2016-2017).Ìý He spearheaded consultations among Member States on the most suitable governance model of UN-Habitat and significantly contributed to the preparations of the Habitat III Conference in Quito, Ecuador (2016).
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From 2015 to 2017, he was Director General for International Organizations, Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid in Slovakia's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Mr. Mlynár has been a member of Slovakia's Foreign Service since 2000. Prior to becoming a diplomat, he worked in the education sector for seven years, including as a Fulbright scholar at the Los Angeles Harbor College and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
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Mr. Mlynár holds aÌýPh.D. and a Master's degreeÌýfrom the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia.Ìý He also studied in the United Kingdom and the United States.Ìý He speaks Slovak, English, Russian, Spanish and German.
