UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Melissa Fleming of the United States as the world body's communications chief.
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Thursday that Fleming will succeed Alison Smale of the United Kingdom as undersecretary-general for global communications.
Fleming has been the head of communications and spokesperson for the UN refugee agency in Geneva since 2009. She previously served eight years in a similar position at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.
From 2016 to 2017, Fleming also served as senior adviser on Guterres' transition team after his election as secretary-general.
Dujarric said Fleming brings over 25 years of "strategic vision, innovative management, and communications expertise in multilateral organizations" to her new job in areas including human rights, humanitarian action, conflict prevention, peace-building, free media and nuclear non-proliferation.
