Secretary-General Appoints Marguerite El-Helou Director of United Nations Information Centre in Beirut

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Marguerite El-Helou as Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Beirut, covering Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait and Syria.  Ms. El-Helou assumed her new duties on 1 August 2018.

Ms. El-Helou has more than 15 years of experience in public information, communications and international relations, acquired at the United Nations and externally.  Since May 2014, she oversaw the work of the United Nations Information Centre in Beirut in an interim capacity, leading complex communications campaigns while also developing and implementing strategies for communicating key United Nations messages in the region.

From 2010 to 2014, Ms. El Helou was a Public Information Officer at the Centre, advising on strategic communications and operational decisions related to its public outreach activities.  From 2000 to 2007, she provided support to strategic communications projects and senior communications officials in the Office of the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia.

Ms. El-Helou worked at Procter and Gamble in Lebanon as Near East Public Relations Leader from 2007 to 2009, where she managed stakeholder engagements and developed communications strategies.  From 1997 to 2000, she held managerial positions in sales, marketing and digital communications for various Lebanese agricultural firms.

A national of Lebanon, Ms. El-Helou holds a bachelor’s degree in agriculture engineering from the American University of Beirut.

Ms. El-Helou is fluent in Arabic, English and French.