- Louise Fréchette
Louise Fréchette, OC, (born
July 16 ,1946 ) wasUnited Nations Deputy Secretary-General for eight years, and a long-time Canadian diplomat andpublic servant . She is currently serving a three year term at theCentre for International Governance Innovation , an international relations and policythink-tank inWaterloo, Ontario , working on a major research project onnuclear energy and the world's security.She was born in
Montreal . In 1971, shortly after graduating with a degree in history from theUniversité de Montréal and from theCollege of Europe (Bruges) with a Masters Degree, Frechette joined Canada'sDepartment of External Affairs . She was posted to the Canadianembassy inAthens before joining Canada's UN delegation inGeneva in 1978.In 1985, at the age of 39, she was named Canada's ambassador to
Argentina . In 1989, she was sent on a secret mission toCuba to lobbyFidel Castro to support theGulf War . While unsuccessful, she impressed Ottawa with her efforts and was named Canada's ambassador to theUnited Nations in 1992.In 1995, she left the foreign service to become assistant deputy minister of finance in
Ottawa . She was later promoted to deputy minister of national defense, the first woman to hold that position.In 1997, UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan announced a series of reforms at the world body, including the creation of the position of deputy secretary-general to handle many of the administrative responsibilities which had previously been the responsibility of the secretary-general. Fréchette was offered the position and accepted and has been responsible for overseeing numerous reforms at the UN.In 1998, she was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada .In 2005, after being criticized by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman
Paul Volcker for failed management of theIraq Oil-for-Food Program , Frechette announced her resignation.External links
* [http://www.un.org/sg/frechette.shtml UN Deputy Secretary-General] biography
* [http://www.cigionline.org/cigi/aboutusv/people~1/distingu/louise~1 CIGI Distinguished Fellow] biography
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