Movses Abelian is an Armenian-Georgian diplomat and

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

official. In June 2019, the United Nations Secretary-General

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socia ...

appointed him as Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management. He additionally appointed him, on 3 September 2019, as UN Coordinator for Multilingualism.

Education and career

Abelian was educated at schools in Armenia, the Russian Federation, and the United States. He served as an associate professor at

Yerevan State University Yerevan State University (YSU; hy, Երևանի Պետական Համալսարան, ԵՊՀ, ''Yerevani Petakan Hamalsaran''), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919 ...

, starting in 1989. In 1992, he joined the Armenian Foreign Service. He was Deputy Permanent Representative of Armenia to the United Nations from 1996 to 1998, before becoming Ambassador and Permanent Representative in 1998, a position in which he served until 2003. He was President of the

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

Executive Board in 2001. In 2011, he was appointed Director of the Security Council Affairs Division and Secretary of the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

. In 2016, he was appointed

Assistant Secretary-General An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under- ...

of the United Nations, responsible for

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

affairs and conference management (2016–2019). In 2019, he was made Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management, and later that year was made UN Coordinator for Multilingualism.

Personal life

He and his wife have two children.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Permanent Representatives of Armenia to the United Nations Chairmen and Presidents of UNICEF Armenian officials of the United Nations {{UN-bio-stub