, following the concurrence of the Security Council. ){kind=link}
On December 2, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed the appointment of Natalia Gherman of the Republic of Moldova as Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED), following the concurrence of the Security Council.
She will succeed Michèle Coninsx of Belgium, for whose dedication and commitment to the Organization the Secretary-General is thankful. The Secretary-General also wants to express his gratitude to Weixiong Chen, the CTED’s Deputy Executive Director and Head of the Assessment and Technical Assistance Office, who will continue to hold the position of Acting Executive Director until Ms. Gherman assumes it.
Ms. Gherman has 30 years of experience in senior leadership and consensus building, consolidating trust and mutual understanding between regional and national states, including through the convening of dialogue platforms between Governments, Parliaments, civil society, the private sector, and international organizations. She is currently the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) (since 2017). In addition to implementing programmatic activities to prevent and counter the threats of international terrorism and extremism, organized crime, and environmental degradation, she is an expert in regional and global security affairs. She promotes peace through justice, sustainable development, and the rule of law.
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Ms. Gherman, a career diplomat, held a number of prominent government positions, including that of Moldova’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (2013–2016), who also held the positions of Deputy Prime Minister and Acting Prime Minister in 2015. She held the dual positions of Chief Negotiator for the Republic of Moldova during the Association Agreement negotiations with the European Union (2009–2013) and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. She established Moldova’s diplomatic presence in the Nordic region by serving as the country’s first permanent representative to Sweden, Norway, and Finland as well as ambassador to Austria, the United Nations Agencies in Vienna, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Speaking Romanian, English, Russian, French, and German, Ms. Gherman has a bachelor’s degree in arts from the State University of the Republic of Moldova and a master’s degree in arts in war studies from King’s College, University of London.