United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced n 6 July 2018 the appointment of Ayşe Cihan Sultanoğlu of Turkey as the United Nations Representative to the Geneva International Discussions (UNRGID). In this position, she will also be responsible for the United Nations role in support of the joint Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism. She will succeed Antti Turunen of Finland, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedication and service to the Organization.
Ms. Sultanoğlu brings over 35 years of distinguished service in the United Nations. Since 2012, she has served as the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (RBEC) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Prior to this, she was the Director of Human Resources in UNDP’s Bureau of Management.
She has also served as United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Belarus (2004-2007) and in Lithuania (2000-2005); and as UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Morocco (1995-2000).
Ms. Sultanoğlu holds a Masters of International Affairs degree with a specialization in Economic and Political Development and International Business from the School of International Affairs (SIPA) of Columbia University as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours in Economics from Barnard College of Columbia University, New York. She was appointed as United Nations Commissioner-General to EXPO 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan.