UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday appointed Dutch politician Sigrid Kaag as the new senior coordinator for humanitarian assistance and reconstruction for Gaza.
Kaag is tasked with facilitating, coordinating, monitoring and verifying aid deliveries to the besieged Gaza Strip, according to a recent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution.
A UN mechanism will also be established to expedite humanitarian deliveries through countries that are not part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Kaag is scheduled to take office on January 8, 2024.
According to a press release from the Office of the UN Secretary-General, Kaag has extensive experience in political, humanitarian and development affairs as well as diplomacy.
Since January 2022, she has served as the first female deputy prime minister and the first woman to head the Ministry of Finance of the Dutch government.
From October 2017 to August 2021, she was Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and headed the Foreign Ministry from May to September 2021.
In addition, Kaag has held numerous senior positions in the UN system, serving as Special Coordinator in Lebanon from 2015 to 2017 and as Special Coordinator of the Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations Mission in Syria from 2013 to 2015.
Last Friday, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2070, which, among other things, calls for the immediate, safe and free delivery of large-scale humanitarian assistance directly to Palestinian civilians throughout the Gaza Strip.
The resolution also calls on the UN Secretary-General to appoint a coordinator for humanitarian assistance and reconstruction and calls for the “swift” establishment of a global organizing mechanism to improve the distribution of humanitarian aid.