By IANS
Islamabad : UN resident coordinator Jan Vandemoortele is to leave Pakistan prematurely “after finding the job too stressful and taxing for his health”, but there are whispers that the departure is due to differences with the government.
“A relatively inexperienced Turk is being tipped to succeed him in what is described as one of the more challenging assignments in the United Nations,” the Dawn reported Wednesday.
“Asked to comment on the tittle-tattle that he was being made to quit because of differences with the government, Mr. Vandemoortele said they were baseless and he was leaving purely because of health reasons,” the newspaper added.
Vandemoortele, who took over the Pakistan assignment in September 2005, had perhaps the most eventful stay as compared to his 14 predecessors.
Days after landing in Pakistan, he had to coordinate the international response to the 7.6 magnitude Oct 8 earthquake that left more than 75,000 people dead.
Hardly had the UN’s early recovery plan ended that Vandemoortele saw himself dealing with the UN response to 2007 floods in Sindh and Balochistan.
According to the official, his stay in Pakistan saw the “best of the times and worst of the times”, even as he added that had he known what awaited him in Pakistan, he would have carefully thought it out before accepting the assignment.
The Pakistan assignment was Vandemoortele’s seventh foreign posting, but it was the first time that he had decided to seek a transfer before the four-year term ended.