Éliane Duthoit (born 1946 in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

), a French citizen, is a senior

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

official at the

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...

(OCHA).

Career overview

Since the early 1990s, Duthoit was appointed successively Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in Ingushetia (covering Chechnya), and then head of the OCHA offices in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

Timor-Leste East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

Southern Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Con ...

, and latterly Chad. Between these appointments, she carried out short assignments with other functions in Burundi and elsewhere.

Specific achievements

, Éliane Duthoit played an important role in attracting international attention to what the United Nations believed was a forgotten humanitarian crisis. In Chechnya, she played an important role in facilitating negotiations between the Russian military and Chechen rebels to ensure humanitarian relief for

internally displaced person An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. ...

s (IDPs). In 2006, she was appointed by

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founde ...

as head of the OCHA office in

Juba Juba () is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria State. It is the world's newest capital city to be elevated as such, and had a population ...

, under the leadership of Under-Secretary-General

Jan Egeland Jan Egeland (born 12 September 1957) is a Norwegian diplomat, political scientist, humanitarian leader and former Labour Party politician who has been Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council since 2013. He served as State Secretary ...

. This was when humanitarian needs were gradually leading the way to development, in which OCHA along with other United Nations agencies reportedly played an important role. In

, she also played a significant role, in facilitating negotiations at the 2006-2007 Juba talks between the Government of

and the

Lord's Resistance Army The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement, is a rebel group and heterodox Christian group which operates in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the ...

(LRA), hosted and mediated by the Government of Southern Sudan with United Nations support in the person of

Joaquim Chissano Joaquim Alberto Chissano (born 22 October 1939) is a politician who served as the second President of Mozambique, from 1986 to 2005. He is credited with transforming the war-torn country of Mozambique into one of the most successful African demo ...

as Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for LRA-affected areas. In August 2007, with increasing humanitarian needs in Chad, she was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as head of the OCHA office in Chad, based in the capital

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital and largest city of Chad. It is also a special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements''. The city serves as the centre of economic activity in Chad. Meat, fish and cotton processing are the c ...

. In February 2008 when armed fighting erupted in N'Djamena, she stayed behind as part of a United Nations ''skeleton team''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duthoit, Eliane French diplomats People from Brittany French officials of the United Nations 1946 births Living people French humanitarians Women humanitarians