Secretary-General Appoints Najat Rochdi of Morocco Deputy Special Envoy for Syria

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Najat Rochdi of Morocco as his Deputy Special Envoy for Syria.

She succeeds Khawla Matar of Bahrain to whom the Secretary-General expresses his gratitude for her efforts and dedication in the search for peace in Syria.

Ms. Rochdi brings over 20 years of experience in political affairs and international coordination in conflict and post-conflict areas, including through her latest assignment as Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, with the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon.

Prior to this, Ms. Rochdi served as Senior Adviser to the Special Envoy for Syria and Director of Peer to Peer with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Geneva. Earlier, she served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Cameroon and Deputy Director of the Representative Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)in Geneva.

Ms. Rochdi holds a doctorate in information systems from the National Institute of Statistics and of Applied Economics in Rabat, Morocco, and a master's degree in mathematics and fundamental applications from the University of Paris Sud 11. She is fluent in Arabic, English and French.

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* This supersedes Press Release SG/A/1964 of 19 June 2020.