ISLAMABAD, Feb 1 (APP):In the 75 years history of United Nation International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Catherine Russell has become the fourth woman to lead UNICEF as she assumed the charge of Executive Director of the organization on Tuesday.
According to the UNICEF Pakistan, Russell said, “At a time when millions of children globally are still reeling from the impact of the Covid pandemic and other crises, UNICEF is leading the call to protect their rights and their futures and I look forward to the work ahead”.
“It is an honor and a privilege to join UNICEF and help lead its remarkable work for children at such a crucial moment,” said Russell.
Catherine served in the US government as Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel from 2020 to 2022. She previously served from 2013 to 2017 as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State.
Previously, Ms. Russell served as Deputy Assistant to the President at the White House under President Barack Obama, Senior Advisor on International Women’s Issues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice, and Staff Director of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Before re-entering government service in 2020, she taught at the Harvard Kennedy School as an Institute of Politics Fellow. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, magna cum laude, from Boston College and a Juris Doctor degree from the George Washington University Law School. She is the eighth Executive Director to lead the 20,000-person-strong agency.
