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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Maria Isabel Salvador of Ecuador as his new special representative for Haiti, said a UN spokesman on Thursday.

Salvador, who will also serve as head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti, is succeeding Helen La Lime of the United States "to whom the secretary-general is deeply grateful for her important contribution and service to Haiti," Stephane Dujarric, Guterres' spokesman, told reporters.

"Ms. Salvador brings to this position over 25 years of experience in managerial, advisory, political and diplomatic functions," he said.

In the private sector, Salvador served for 10 years as the general manager and legal representative for Air France in Ecuador. She is currently the director of external relations at Universidad de Las Americas (UDLA) in Ecuador, a post she has held since 2015, according to Dujarric.

Addressing a UN Security Council open briefing on Haiti in January, La Lime said the Caribbean nation was facing protracted security and humanitarian crisis.

Gang-related violence in Haiti has reached levels not seen in decades, with murders and kidnappings increasing for a fourth consecutive year, La Lime then said, adding that close to five million people were facing conditions of acute hunger across the country.

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