United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Dutch Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag as head of the mechanism for monitoring humanitarian deliveries to the Gaza Strip. Specifically, Kaag was appointed senior coordinator for humanitarian affairs and reconstruction in Gaza. Its mission, which begins on January 8, is to “facilitate, coordinate, monitor and verify” aid deliveries to the Palestinian enclave controlled by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). The Dutch politician, who also held the foreign affairs portfolio during Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's term, served as the United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon between 2015 and 2017, according to a statement from Guterres' office. In addition, she served as Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Jordan between 2007 and 2010, while she also served as Under-Secretary-General of the UN Development Program (UNDP) between 2010 and 2013. The appointment comes, after the United Nations Security Council last Friday approved a resolution put forward by the United Arab Emirates to facilitate the “immediate and safe delivery” of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
