The Secretary-General of the United Nations Mr. Ban Ki-moon has appointed  Mr. Ross Mountain of New Zealand to serve at interim to the position of Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) starting on 14 January 2013.  Mr. Mountain replaces Mr. Kevin Kennedy, who served in this position from April 2010 to December 2012. Mr. Ross Mountain has 35 years experience in the management of complex humanitarian, reconstruction development and peacekeeping operations in Africa, Asia, Middle East and the Caribbean.  In addition to serving as the special envoy of the Secretary-General in a number of crises, Mr. Mountain served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2004 to 2009.

Prior to this assignment in DRC, Mr. Mountain replaced Mr. Sergio Vieira De Mello, the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, at the time serving as a Special Representative of the Secretary General in Iraq from August 1998 to December 2003.  Mr. Mountain has a vast experience in UN operations in numerous hotspots and humanitarian emergencies serving as Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator and Director of the Geneva Office of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as United Nations Resident Coordinator for the Eastern Caribbean, as United Nations Special Coordinator for Emergency Relief Operations in Liberia as well as UNDP Resident Representative a.i. in Afghanistan and United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Lebanon from 1995 to 1998.

This is not the first time in Haiti for Mr. Mountain who was here on assignment as United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator in Haiti from1994 to 1995. For the last three years, Mr. Mountain has been the Director General of DARA International, a Madrid based international foundation specialized in humanitarian and climate change issues.

A national of New Zealand, Mr. Mountain holds a B.A. from Victoria University of Wellington.  

He is fluent in French and English and is married with three children.