UN appoints Biden adviser Catherine Russell to head UNICEF

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has announced the appointment of an assistant to U.S. President Joe Biden as the next head of the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF. Catherine Russell also heads the White House Office of Presidential Personnel and served as the State Department’s ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues from 2013-2017. She will succeed Henrietta Fore, who resigned in July because of a family health issue. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced  her appointment Friday following consultations with UNICEF’s executive board. Biden called Russell “a trusted and indispensable adviser” for nearly 30 years, praising her “leadership, experience, wisdom and empathy.”