World Bulletin
Pakistan Hopeful With Ripert AppointmentBy Diana Medaglia
Oct. 21 – Although more than one million people in Pakistan have registered as displaced, according to a September report from the government’s National Database and Registration Authority, an increase of more than 100,000 are expected to join those who have already fled their home as the recent military operations in the tribal areas of South Waziristan have intensified.
 | Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) and Jean-Maurice Ripert in 2007. Ripert, who was then the permanent representative of France to the United Nations, will begin serving as special envoy to Pakistan next month. UN Photo/Ryan Brown.
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To help resolve the crisis, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed French diplomat Jean-Maurice Ripert as a special envoy to Pakistan in August. The new position will move humanitarian efforts forward during the region’s displacement emergency. Ripert will fill the job for six months with a renewable term, leaving his current post in Paris at the end of this month.
Ripert, a 56-year-old former permanent representative to the UN in Geneva and director of the UN and International Organizations section at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris, has a track record of humanitarian work experience. Ban cited Ripert’s knowledge of conflict resolution and reconstruction building in making the appointment.
The job entails promoting a “strategic, coherent and comprehensive approach to supporting the humanitarian, recovery and reconstruction needs of crisis affected areas” in concert with the Pakistani government and international partners” said Michele Montas, a spokeswoman for the secretary-general, in a public statement at the time of the announcement.
Ripert, she added, “brings to this challenging assignment a wealth of experience in the international fora and a solid track record in consensus building.”
More than $6 million is spent annually on protection, monitoring and coordination efforts in northwestern Pakistan. As of Sept.1, 2009, 56,000 to 100,000 people have fled their homes but have not registered as displaced people, and the UN refugee agency reports that there are as many as 400,000 people receiving shelter and nonfood assistance.
Charles Rault, director of the International Security Research and Intelligence Agency, an online consulting company that specializes in global intelligence and policy news, has assessed the Ripert appointment.
“Our monitoring of diplomatic activity around the world showed that Mr. Ripert's appointment has been welcomed warmly within official circles,” said Rault. “He will be acting with the UN secretary-general's confidence and on a strong mandate from the international community. The challenge is as important as what is at stake in the area. But the very first step will be to bring the UN mission the tight security measures it requires.”
Diana Medaglia is an intern with UNA’s publications department and a student in the Bard College Globalization and International Affairs program.
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