Joe Biden adviser Catherine Russell appointed Executive Director of UNICEF.

Why in news?

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Catherine Russell, an adviser to US President Joe Biden, as Executive Director of UNICEF.

About Catherine Russell being appointed as the Executive Director of UNICEF

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Catherine Russell, an adviser to US President Joe Biden, as Executive Director of UNICEF.
• She replaces Henrietta Fore, to whom Guterres expressed his gratitude for her commitment and dedicated service to the UN agency.
• Russell brings to the role decades of experience in developing innovative policy that empowers underserved communities around the world.
• Russell currently serves as Director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. From 2013 to 2017, she served as ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues in the Department of State.
• UNICEF, also known as the United Nations Children’s Fund, is a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide.
• UNICEF activities include providing immunizations and disease prevention, administering treatment for children and mothers with HIV, enhancing childhood and maternal nutrition, improving sanitation, promoting education, and providing emergency relief in response to disasters.
• The UN’s International Children’s Emergency Fund was established in the aftermath of World War II. Their mandate was clear, which was to help people whose lives and futures were at risk, no matter what role they played during the war.