The United Nations (UN) has appointed Inger Andersen as the head of UN environment programme (UNEP), replacing departed Erik Solheim who was unceremoniously pushed out last year.
Ms Andersen is a Danish economist and environmentalist who has been heading International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) NGO.
The news were broken by UN deputy secretary general, Amina Mohammed in an ambassadors meeting on Thursday, where she said that the secretary general António Guterres had chosen Anderson to head UNEP.
The 60-year old lady is awaiting approval of the general assembly to commence her duties in Nairobi.
Read: UN Environment Boss Erik Solheim Resigns After Accusations of Misuse of Resources
She has previously served at the World Bank as the vice-president for the Middle East and north Africa, as well as at the UN for 15 years on water and environment issues.
Anderson takes the hot seat of Solheim, whole leadership was marred with scandals.
Two months to his exit, the OIOS report indicted him with having “no regard for abiding by the set regulations and rules” while claiming unjustified expenses. The report went further to indicate that UN Environment can’t encourage others to cut on carbon footprint while “Erik Solheim is travelling for 529 out of the audited 668 days”.
The OIOS audit report also criticised Erik Solheim’s for “having no regard for abiding by the set regulations and rules, and correspondence seen showed management willingness to circumvent regulations and rules which were termed as ‘bureaucratic’.”
During his short stint at UNEP, Solheim incurred a bill of close to Ksh50 million ($500,000) while traveling for 80 per cent of the first 22 months he was at the UN Environment.
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