UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has named Sandra Mitchell of the US as the new deputy commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
She will replace Margot Ellis of the US, Xinhua reported Thursday.
Mitchell, who is currently the vice-president of international programs of the International Rescue Committee, has seven years of experience with the UN, notably in senior management roles at UNRWA from 2011 to 2013 as Director of Operations, Jordan and chief of staff.
UNRWA is a UN agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection for a population of some five million registered Palestine refugees. Its services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, and microfinance.
