United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Najat Rochdi of Morocco as his new Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), where she will also serve as United Nations Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
 

Ms. Rochdi succeeds Fabrizio Hochschild of Chile, who was appointed Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General in January 2017. The Secretary-General is grateful for Mr. Hochshild’s service and steadfast commitment to support recovery, peacebuilding and humanitarian efforts in the Central African Republic.
 
Ms. Rochdi, who has extensive experience in development and humanitarian affairs, has been serving as the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Cameroon since 2013. She served as Deputy Director in charge of Policy, Communication and Operation in the UNDP Geneva Liaison Office and as UNDP Regional Coordinator of Information and Communication Technology for Development in the Arab Region (ICTDAR) in Cairo, Egypt.

Prior to her tenure with UNDP, she held senior level positions in the Moroccan Government, including Deputy Minister of Small and Medium Enterprise, Director General of International Cooperation and Development in the Ministry of Post and Information Technology and Advisor to the Prime Minister. She has also been a professor at the Collège Royal and at the Information Sciences University in Rabat, Morocco.

Ms. Rochdi holds a Doctorate in Mathematics and Engineering in Computer Sciences from the University of National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (INSEA) in Rabat and the University of Montreal.

Born in 1961, Ms. Rochdi has four children.