Louise Fréchette OC |
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Louise Fréchette in May 2015
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1st United Nations Deputy Secretary-General | |
In office 1 April 1997 – 1 April 2006 |
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Secretary-General | Kofi Annan |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Mark Malloch-Brown |
Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations |
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In office January 1992 – December 1994 |
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Preceded by | Yves Fortier |
Succeeded by | Robert Fowler |
Personal details | |
Born |
Montreal |
July 16, 1946
Nationality | Canadian |
Alma mater |
Université de Montréal College of Europe |
Louise Fréchette, OC (born July 16, 1946) was United Nations Deputy Secretary-General for eight years, and a long-time Canadian diplomat and public servant. She is currently serving a three-year term at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, an international relations and policy think-tank in Waterloo, Ontario, working on a major research project on nuclear energy and the world's security.
Born in Montreal, she graduated with a degree in history from the Université de Montréal in 1970 and from the College of Europe (Bruges) with a postgraduate Certificate of Advanced European Studies (equivalent to a master's degree) in 1978. She began her career in 1971 when she joined Canada's Department of External Affairs. She was posted to the Canadian embassy in Athens before joining Canada's UN delegation in Geneva in 1978.
In 1985, at the age of 39, she was named Canada's ambassador to Argentina. In 1989, she was sent on a secret mission to Cuba to lobby Fidel Castro to support the Gulf War. While unsuccessful, she impressed Ottawa with her efforts and was named Canada's ambassador to the United Nations in 1992.