LSTM Trustee, Stephen O’Brien MP has been appointed as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the United Nations.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made the announcement on Monday that Mr O’Brien will succeed Labour Peer Baroness Amos, who has held the position for four years. He will step down as MP for Eddisbury at the general election in May.
Mr O’Brien has a long relationship with LSTM, resigning his position as a trustee in between 2010 and 2012 when he held the position as Minister for International Development, becoming a trustee again in 2013.
The UN released a statement saying: “Mr O’Brien brings to the position extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy and advocacy, together with international leadership and management, in the coordination of collective action within the humanitarian community, notably in the fight against malaria and neglected tropical diseases…”
LSTM’s Director, Professor Janet Hemingway said: “I am delighted for Stephen to have been appointed to this position. He has a great deal of experience in the field of international development and has long been an advocate in the fight against many of the world’s most deadly and debilitating diseases.”
An MP since 1999, Mr O’Brien has recently been David Cameron’s special envoy to the Sahel region.