Michelle Keating (D-1)
Nationality: United States of America
Chief of Service, Language Service
Michelle Keating, a national of the United States, is the Chief of the Languages Service at the United Nations Office at Geneva and has occupied this post since 1 April 2015.
Ms. Keating’s previous positions with International Organizations have taken her around the globe. She started her career in former Yugoslavia with DPKO. She then moved to Tanzania and Rwanda with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and then the International Criminal Court in The Hague. In these first assignments, Ms. Keating combined the roles of an interpreter and translator while also organizing training and capacity-building programs, advising on interpretation protocols and representing the organizations she was working for in her areas of expertise.
Starting from her assignment with DESA at the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials in Cambodia, Ms. Keating assumed a full-time managerial role which later brought her to Rome as Head of Interpretation at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). She is a great believer in the United Nations delivering as one and the value of communication.
Ms. Keating speaks English, French and Spanish. She holds a degree in Languages from Université Paul Valery in Montpellier, France, and a master’s degree in French translation and interpretation from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in the US.
Born in 1967, Ms. Keating is married and has two daughters and a son.
Vitali Rousak (D-1)
Nationality: Belarus
Chief of Service, Central Planning and Coordination Service
Monica Varela Garcia (D-1)
Nationality: Spain
Chief of Service, Interpretation Service
Monica Varela García, a national of Spain, is the Chief of the Interpretation Service (IS).
Her appointment in August 2024 follows work in the United Nations system spanning over 20 years. Having commenced her career at the United Nations Office in Vienna, Ms. Varela García transferred to the United Nations Office at Geneva in 2005, where she went on to serve as Senior Interpreter and then Chief of the Spanish Interpretation Section.
In 2018, she was appointed as Chief of the Interpretation Service at the International Labour Organization (ILO). 2022 saw her take on the role of Chief of Official Relations and Conference Management at ILO, a position she held until her recent appointment to UNOG.
Ms. Varela García holds a Master’s degree in Conference Interpreting from the University of Geneva. This is further complemented by a Master of Business Administration focused on Management in International Organizations, from the Faculty of Economics (GSEM), University of Geneva, with a focus on leadership, results-based management, innovation as well as risk and change management.
Ms. Varela García is multilingual and is fluent in English, French, German, Spanish and also speaks Russian and Portuguese.