Louise Fréchette

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Louise Fréchette (born July 16, 1946 in Montreal) was the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations for eight years and a long-time Canadian diplomat and public servant. Starting in May 2006, she is currently serving a two-year term at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, an international relations and policy think-tank, working on a major research project on nuclear energy and the world's security.

In 1971, shortly after graduating with a degree in history from the Université de Montréal, Frechette 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.

In 1995, she left the foreign service to become assistant deputy minister of finance in Ottawa. She was later promoted to deputy minister of national defense, the first woman to hold that position.

In 1997, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan announced a series of reforms at the world body, including the creation of the position of deputy secretary-general to handle many of the administrative responsibilities which had previously been the responsibility of the secretary-general. Fréchette was offered the position and accepted and has been responsible for overseeing numerous reforms at the UN.

In 1998, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

In 2005, after being criticized by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker for failed management of the Iraq Oil-for-Food Programme, Frechette announced her resignation.