This file photo taken on May 14, 2007 shows Dr Noeleen Heyzer, then executive director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women. (YOAV LEMMER / AFP)
UNITED NATIONS – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday appointed Noeleen Heyzer of Singapore as his new special envoy on Myanmar, said his press office.
Heyzer succeeds Christine Schraner Burgener of Switzerland.
Noeleen Heyzer was the first woman to serve as the executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific from 2007-2014
Heyzer is a member of the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation. She was the first woman to serve as the executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific from 2007-2014.
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She was the UN secretary-general's special adviser for Timor-Leste from 2013 to 2015. In 2008-2009, she worked closely with ASEAN, the government of Myanmar and the United Nations in the recovery efforts following Cyclone Nargis and led a dialogue with Myanmar leaders on development and poverty reduction.