U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Tuesday that Guterres
“fully understands” Fore’s decision “to devote herself to a family health
issue.” She is married and has four children.
Fore, an American public health and international
development executive who was the first woman to head the U.S. Agency for
International Development took up the leadership of UNICEF on Jan. 1, 2018.
The secretary-general thanked Fore “for her outstanding work
to address the extraordinary challenges facing children and young people around
the world” and improve their lives, noting “UNICEF’s critical role in the
global response to COVID-19 and in reimagining education,” spokesman Haq said.
“As a result of her leadership, UNICEF is now an
organization with a broader array of public and private sector partnerships and
a bolder focus” on achieving U.N. development goals for 2030, Haq said. “She
has also contributed enormously to efforts to build a U.N. system with a much
stronger focus on inclusion and organizational culture.”
Fore’s previous career included running several companies,
serving as director of the U.S. Mint from 2001-2005, as U.S. undersecretary of
state for management from 2005-2007, and as USAID administrator from 2007-2009
during the administration of then President George W. Bush.
Haq said Fore will remain at UNICEF until a successor is
chosen.
UNICEF’s executive director is appointed by the U.N.
secretary-general in consultation with the executive board of the organization.
The United States is the largest funder of UNICEF and the job has traditionally
gone to an American.