Tibaijuka was elected by the General Assembly to her first four-year term as head of the new agency in July 2002 and was given the rank of under-secretary-general, as the first African woman to reach this level within the UN system.
Tibaijuka was elected by the General Assembly to her first four-year term as head of the new agency in July 2002, and she received the rank of under-secretary-general, marking a historic milestone as the first African woman to attain this level within the UN system.