The Singapore Management University (SMU) is pleased to announce that Dr Noeleen Heyzer, Social Scientist, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) and SMU’s Lee Kong Chian Distinguished Fellow, has been appointed as the new special envoy to Myanmar.

On her appointment, she says, "I am deeply honoured to be appointed by the UN Secretary General as his Special Envoy on Myanmar. I will take on this role on 13 December 2021 and I look forward to listening to the aspirations and perspectives of all stakeholders in the hope of a peaceful political solution in the country for a better future for all the people of Myanmar."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made this announcement on 25 October and she will replace Christine Schraner Burgener of Switzerland for this role. Dr Heyzer is currently a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Advisory Board on Mediation, which supports specific mediation efforts around the world.

Dr Heyzer has held multiple senior positions at the United Nations and was the highest ranking Singaporean to serve in the UN from 2007 to 2015, as well as the first woman who served as the Executive Secretary of Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) from 2007 to 2014. She was at the forefront of many pieces of important work, including regional disaster preparedness, inclusive socio-economic policies, sustainable agriculture and urbanisation, energy security and regional connectivity.

She had recently launched her memoir Beyond Storms & Stars, which describes how she rose from underprivileged circumstances in post-war Singapore to become a trailblazer of women’s global leadership at the United Nations. It is a book that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the courage of individuals, communities, and societies to transform structures of discrimination and injustice.

Read more in The Straits Times, CNA and SCMP.