The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, has appointed Ellen Margrethe, as a new Special Representative and the head of the Mission in South Sudan.

The announcement of her appointment was made in New York yesterday.

Ellen Margrethe from Denmark replaces Madam Hilde Johnson from Norway, whose mandate ended last month.

Madam Margrethe served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the head of the UN Mission in Liberia from 2008 to 2012.

The spokesman for Ban Ki-moon, Martin Nesirky, says Madam Margrethe had previously held a number of senior positions in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including as her country’s Permanent Representative to the UN.

Madam Margrethe is the second Special Representative of the Secretary-General in South Sudan.

One of her priorities will be the implementation of the new mandate, which the Security Council revised in May this year to give priority to the task of protecting civilians.

She will also address the security, humanitarian and political crisis in South Sudan.

The UN Mission in South Sudan was established in 2011, following a UN-supported referendum, which led to the independence of South Sudan from Sudan on the 9th of July 2011.