Prague, July 29 (CTK) – Marie Chatardova was elected new president of United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on Thursday, daily Lidove noviny (LN) wrote on Saturday, adding that a Czech official has not occupied such a high U.N. post since 2003.
She is to hold the post for 12 months.
This is a unique opportunity since it is unlikely for a Czech official to head one of the two other main U.N. bodies, the Security Council and the General Assembly, in the foreseeable future.
In 2002-03, Czech diplomat and politician Jan Kavan headed the U.N. General Assembly.
Chatardova has only been the third woman among the 73 diplomats who held the post of the president of the ECOSOC, which is the third most important U.N. body, LN writes.
“This is a success of the Czech foreign policy,” she told the paper.
Chatardova said the Czech Republic has an opportunity to even more participate in dealing with world economic and social challenges now.
The ECOSOC discusses affairs concerning about 70 percent of human and financial resources of the whole U.N. system, she said.
Chatardova is one of the few career diplomats who regularly appear in the TOP 50 list of the most influential Czech women created by the Forbes magazine, LN writes.
She became the Czech ambassador to the U.N. only in 2016. Before, she was the Czech ambassador to Paris for six years. When she was leaving the post last summer, she received the highest French state decoration – Commander of the National Order of the Legion of Honour. She is the first Czech woman winning the award.
Chatardova was ambassador to Sweden in 2002-07. In 2007-10 she headed the diplomatic protocol of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
