At Tuesday’s press briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, spokesman Stephane Dujarric responded also to publications related to Marianne Clark-Hattingh, the UNICEF representative to Armenia, news.am reports.
Spying allegations against UNICEF representative to Armenia are baseless, says UN spokesman
STEPANAKERT, MARCH 10 , ARTSAKHPRESS: The following was said in this regard:
Question: Okay. A question on Armenia. Reportedly, the Government of this country terminated the mandate of the representative of UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) in the country, accusing her, in quote, uncooperate work style, end quote.
Earlier, some media reported that the person allegedly was engaged in espionage in favour of Azerbaijan and UK, and the Armenian authorities declared her persona non grata. So, do you have any comment on these allegations…?
Spokesman: The allegations against… the spying allegations against her are baseless, and I would defend her strongly.
What I can tell you and what my colleagues of UNICEF have told me is that UNICEF and the Government of Armenia have agreed that Marianne Clark Hattingh will complete her assignment as UNICEF Representative in Armenia this month, and she’ll be redeployed to another duty station.
She is a highly qualified, extremely experienced and committed development professional, who has previously served with UNICEF at Headquarters, as well as being the Representative in Malaysia and other posts in places such as Somalia, Guinea, Benin and Madagascar.
UNICEF has been working for the children in Armenia since 1993 and has had a close and effective partnership with the Government.
