U.S. ambassador to U.N. food agencies, Ertharin Cousin, appointed to head WFP

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva on Tuesday announced the appointment of Ertharin Cousin, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.'s Rome-based food agencies, to head the U.N. World Food Programme, the Associated Press/CBS News reports (1/17). "Cousin ... will succeed Josette Sheeran, also of the United States, who has held the post since 2007," Reuters notes.

In a statement, President Barack Obama said that the U.N. "will be well served by Ambassador Cousin's experience and commitment to the World Food Program's vision of a world in which every citizen has access to the food they need to survive and to thrive," according to the news service (Worsnip, 1/17).