United Nations Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres announced on 6 December 2023 the appointment of Natalie Boucly of France as Deputy Commissioner-General (Programmes and Partnerships) of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). 聽She will succeed Leni Stenseth of Norway to whom the Secretary-General expresses his appreciation for her service and commitment to the Organization.
Ms.聽Boucly is currently Acting Deputy Commissioner-General of UNRWA and brings to the position 25 years of international experience, in addition to substantive field experience in sensitive conflict and post-conflict settings with a particular focus on governance, crisis response and elections.
She joined UNRWA in 2022 as Director of Legal Affairs. 聽Prior to that, she was the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme聽(UNDP) in the Central African Republic (2019-2022). 聽From 2014 to 2019, she served as the Resident Representative/Country Director of UNDP in the Republic of Tanzania and in Burundi. 聽She has also worked in Sudan as the Head of the Resident Coordinator鈥檚 Office.
Ms.聽Boucly began her career in the United Nations system as a legal adviser, working in New York, Rome, Kenya, Kosovo and Haiti in various United Nations organizations, including the World Food Programme聽(WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization聽(FAO). 聽Prior to joining the United Nations, she worked in the private and public sector in London.
She is a qualified barrister-at-law (England and Wales) and a law graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science, England. 聽Ms.聽Boucly is fluent in Bosnian, Croatian, English, French, Italian and Serbian.聽She is also proficient in German, Russian, Spanish, with knowledge of Arabic and Swahili.
