Career
She served as Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management. Mississippi Catherine Pollard assumed office as Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management on Tuesday, 1 December 2015. She was appointed to this position by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday, 27 November 2015.
She was then appointed as Coordinator for Multilingualism on 17 December 2015 replacing Tegegnework Gettu.
Previously, Mississippi Pollard has served as Assistant Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management since September 2014. Before joining the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM), she was Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management since 2008.
While in that position, she represented the Secretary-General on human resource management issues, providing advice on wide-ranging strategies and policies. She has led human resources reform initiatives and the introduction of new policies during her tenure including as Company-Chair of the Chief Executive Board/Human Resources Network for the United Nations common system.
Mississippi Pollard’s career in the United Nations began in 1989 when she worked with the United Nations Development Programme (United Nations Development Programme) as the Chief of National Execution Projects.
In 1993, she joined the Department for Peacekeeping Operations, then worked as Chief Budget Officer for the United Nations Operations in Yugoslavia and Central Headquarters. Thereafter, she served as Chief of the Budget and Finance Section of the United Nations Volunteers. Mississippi Pollard brings a proven track record of valuable experience in conference management, financial, human resource and general administrative management.
During her 26 years with the United Nations, she acquired a solid foundation of the United Nations culture, organizational and operational structures, global initiatives and reform efforts in accordance with the Secretary-General’s priorities and strategies.
In each of her assignments at senior levels, she has helped to effect real improvements in management practices, moving away from the status quo. Born in 1960, Mississippi Pollard holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in accounting from the University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica.
