15 March 2013: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Flavia Pansieri as the new Deputy High-Commissioner for Human Rights, replacing Kyung-wha Kang. Pansieri will work under High-Commissioner Navi Pillay, focusing on the promotion and protection of universal human rights.

Pansieri was previously the Executive Coordinator of the UN Volunteers program (UNV), and has worked with the UN for nearly thirty years. She served as the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) from 1998-2001, and the UB Resident Coordinator and UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Yemen from 2004-2008. [UN News Press Release] [UN DPI Press Release] [Pansieri Biography, UNV]