United Nations

 NEW YORK, 25 July (UN Headquarters) -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Hannah Yilma as the Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Pretoria, South Africa.  She is expected to take up her duties on 25 July.

Prior to this appointment, Ms. Yilma, a national of the United Kingdom, held the post of Associate Spokesman in the Office of the  Spokesman for the Secretary-General.  Before taking up that position, Ms. Yilma served as a Political Affairs Officer in the Situation Centre in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, from 1995-1998.  

Ms. Yilma has participated in two field missions -- the United Nations Protective Force (UNPROFOR) in the former Yugoslavia, from 1994 to 1995, and the United Nations Observer Mission to South Africa (UNOMSA), from 1992-1994, as Civil Affairs Officer and Peace Observer, respectively.  

Before joining the United Nations in 1991 as an Information Officer in the Department of Public Information, Ms. Yilma was employed in the private sector for 15 years.   

Ms. Yilma has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from the Haile Selassie I University.