FILE PHOTO: U.S. government aid agency USAID administrator Henrietta Fore talks during a UN Conference on Financing for Development in Doha November 30, 2008. REUTERS/Fadi Al-Assaad

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations announced on Friday the appointment of Henrietta Fore, an economic development advocate and former U.S. State Department official, as executive director of its Children’s Fund, effective Jan. 1.

Fore, 69, who currently is the chief executive officer of manufacturing and investment company Holsman International, will succeed Anthony Lake, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement.

UNICEF provides humanitarian and development assistance to children and mothers in over 190 developing nations and territories, focused primarily on saving children’s lives and defending their rights.

Fore was administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development from 2006 to 2009, the first woman to lead the agency. She also served as undersecretary for management at the State Department during the George W. Bush administration and as director of the U.S. Mint.