Saudi becomes UN humanitarian envoy
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has appointed Abdulaziz bin Mohamed Ar-Rukban of Saudi Arabia as his Special Humanitarian Envoy and tasked him to ensure strong linkages between the United Nations humanitarian efforts and the humanitarian aid provided by Governments and organizations in the Middle East and North Africa.
This appointment, comes as part of wider efforts to make humanitarian response more effective through building partnerships for disaster response, said Michele Montas, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary General.
Ar-rukban was previously Special International Ambassador for the UN World Food Programme (WFP).
For his part, John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said Ar-Rukban brought extensive knowledge to the post.
“I expect that his renewed commitment to work with the United Nations will be of great benefit to the humanitarian community and especially to the suffering people we serve,” he said in a statement.
Ar-Rukban is the first Saudi national and an Arab person who holds this esteem post in UN Organization.
Ar-Rukban said that he will do his best to find a true partnership between UN and Saudi Arabia to formulate plans aimed at transferring international expertise in the humanitarian field to Saudi Arabia.