• Burmese
Thursday, July 17, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Trump Appoints Policy Specialist on Myanmar to UN Job

The Irrawaddy by The Irrawaddy
June 23, 2017
in Burma
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
Kelley Eckels Currie with late Myanmar veteran journalist and democracy activist U Win Tin at his home in 2012. / Kelley Eckels Currie / Facebook

Kelley Eckels Currie with late Myanmar veteran journalist and democracy activist U Win Tin at his home in 2012. / Kelley Eckels Currie / Facebook

10.8k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

YANGON — US President Donald Trump has appointed longtime Myanmar and Asia policy specialist Kelley Currie to be the US representative on the Economic and Social Council of the UN, with the rank of ambassador.

Currie is a senior fellow with the Project 2049 Institute, a think-tank focusing on Asia policy. She was a founder of the institute’s Burma Transition Initiative which includes a project to promote the reintegration of former Myanmar political prisoners into society. Chin civil society activist Cheery Zahau is listed on the Project 2049 website as the organization’s country program director in Myanmar.

Currie previously held senior policy positions with the US Department of State and worked for the International Republican Institute and other international and non-government organizations, often on rights and policy issues related to Myanmar and Tibet.

RelatedPosts

Anti-Coup Icon Explains Urgent Call for NUG Reform

Anti-Coup Icon Explains Urgent Call for NUG Reform

July 11, 2025
467
The San Francisco Pride Board of Directors contingent

‘Queer Joy Is Resistance’: San Francisco’s Pride Parade

July 1, 2025
224
UN Rapporteur Urges Rejection of Myanmar Election ‘Fraud’

UN Rapporteur Urges Rejection of Myanmar Election ‘Fraud’

June 26, 2025
864

She also served as foreign policy adviser for Republican congressman John Porter of Illinois.

In the new appointment with the Trump administration, she will become, in addition, the alternate representative of the US to sessions of the UN General Assembly.

Currie’s background as a Republican party-linked advocate for human rights in Myanmar contrasts with an earlier Trump appointment with links to the country.

Last year Trump named former lobbyist Jim Murphy as his political director. Murphy worked with the lobbying firm the DCI Group from 2002 to 2012, first as managing partner and then as president.

The firm was hired in 2002 to work for the then Myanmar military government, with part of its remit to counter allegations that the military was responsible for more than 100 rapes of ethnic minority women. The allegations were made in a report jointly released by the Shan Women’s Action Network and the Shan Human Rights Foundation titled “License to Rape” and were vehemently denied by the then government.

Last year, the Daily Beast website reported that Kelley Currie said the report “had enormous significance.”

“It was the first, most authoritative report on that,” she told the website. “It was so comprehensive—it was so well-researched, to an international standard in terms of human rights research—that it led the State Department to conduct their own investigation of the charges.” That probe corroborated the Shan groups’ findings.

In 2017, Myanmar is back on the UN’s radar in relation to similar allegations of grave human rights abuses. In May the UN named the members of a fact-finding missing to investigate alleged serious abuses, including killings and rape, by security forces in Rakhine State and northern Myanmar. The National League for Democracy-led government has rejected the mission.

“It will not help solve the problems Myanmar is facing in Rakhine State … We are ready to work with the international community on any advice or arrangements should they constitute part of the solution, not part of the problem,” ambassador to the UN in Geneva U Htin Lynn said earlier this month.

The UN’s Economic and Social Council is focused on international economic and social policies, including international development cooperation. One of its key missions is the promotion of sustainable development.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Human RightsMyanmarUnited Nations (UN)
The Irrawaddy

The Irrawaddy

...

Similar Picks:

Five-Star Casino Resort on Myanmar Tropical Island Runs Out of Luck
Burma

Five-Star Casino Resort on Myanmar Tropical Island Runs Out of Luck

by The Irrawaddy
February 6, 2024
19.3k

U Kyaw Lwin ran his casino resort on the visa-free island for more than 10 years before facing arrest in...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta’s Central Bank Had $6.8 Bn in Reserves at 14 Int’l Banks in March
Myanmar’s Crisis & the World

Myanmar Junta’s Central Bank Had $6.8 Bn in Reserves at 14 Int’l Banks in March

by The Irrawaddy
August 21, 2023
19k

Singapore banks held 67% of the junta’s foreign reserves; in a bank document seen by The Irrawaddy, the junta praises...

Read moreDetails
UK Hits Myanmar Border Guard Force Colonel, Two Others, With Sanctions
Burma

UK Hits Myanmar Border Guard Force Colonel, Two Others, With Sanctions

by The Irrawaddy
December 9, 2023
10.8k

Saw Chit Thu and two others linked to a massive gambling project in Karen State were sanctioned over allegations of...

Read moreDetails
China and the Wars in Myanmar
Guest Column

China and the Wars in Myanmar

by Bertil Lintner
January 21, 2025
10.7k

Recent truces declared by ethnic armies show that China is still the only outside power that can intervene in Myanmar,...

Read moreDetails
Singapore Called On to Stop Feeding Myanmar Junta’s War Machine
Myanmar’s Crisis & the World

Singapore Called On to Stop Feeding Myanmar Junta’s War Machine

by The Irrawaddy
August 24, 2023
10.2k

Over 200 civil society organizations demand that city-state block regime’s access to arms, dual-use goods, technology and funds.

Read moreDetails
Japan’s ‘Special Relationship’ With Myanmar Has Abetted Decades of Military Rule
From the Archive

Japan’s ‘Special Relationship’ With Myanmar Has Abetted Decades of Military Rule

by Bertil Lintner
May 17, 2024
17.9k

In light of EAO and NUG leaders’ recent talks in Tokyo, The Irrawaddy revisits a column from 2022 exploring Japan’s...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Dateline Irrawaddy: Govt ‘Has Done Nothing’ for Independent Ethnic Media

Dateline Irrawaddy: Govt ‘Has Done Nothing’ for Independent Ethnic Media

UN Resident Coordinator in Myanmar Renata Lok-Dessallien (left) with British Ambassador to Myanmar Andrew Patrick at a news conference in Sittwe airport. / Wa Lone / Reuters

UN Rejects Reports of Myanmar Coordinator’s Removal

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

‘Not a Witch Hunt’: Upholding Survivor-Centered Justice in Myanmar

‘Not a Witch Hunt’: Upholding Survivor-Centered Justice in Myanmar

6 days ago
708
‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

1 week ago
1.4k

Most Read

  • Indian Army Accused of Deadly Strike on Separatists in Myanmar

    Indian Army Accused of Deadly Strike on Separatists in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Rakhine Fighters Close In on Myanmar Junta’s Naval Base

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What the ‘Snake Charmer’ Analogy Gets Wrong About Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar and Russian Regimes Push Indian Trade Corridor to Bypass Western Sanctions

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Launches Space Agency With Russian Help

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.