New York - United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Tania Patriota of Brazil as his Deputy Special Representative for Colombia and Deputy Head of the United Nations Mission in Colombia.

Ms. Patriota brings to this position more than 20 years of experience with the United Nations, working to promote development and support crisis response.  Over the past 13 years, Ms. Patriota has worked with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Brazil, Haiti, Colombia and Mongolia as well as postings in New York headquarters.  During her four years as Resident Representative in Colombia, she provided overall strategic leadership for the delivery of UNFPA’s country programme, including coordinating the agency’s humanitarian response in natural disaster and conflict affected areas.  As UNFPA’s Resident Representative in Haiti, she participated at a senior level in the United Nations system’s humanitarian response in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake.  She has deep expertise in the areas of international public health, population and development, and gender-based violence prevention and response.  

Ms. Patriota holds a Master of Public Health from Columbia University, United States, with degrees in Cognitive and Experimental Psychology and Numerical Calculus from the University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Born in 1953, she is married and has two children.