Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named leading women's rights advocate Noeleen Heyzer of Singapore, who is also the former Qatari ambassador to the United States, to head up the Bangkok-based UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Ms. Heyzer was the "the first executive director from the South to head the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), where she has worked to promote women's empowerment and gender equality."

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