Marina Catena is an Italian humanitarian. She serves as the director of the United Nations World Food Programme [1] (Paris), is a Lieutenant in the Italian Army (Specialized Reserve), and a writer.
She obtained the International Baccalaureate at the United World College of the Adriatic, and attended the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli (LUISS) in Rome, where she graduated in Political Sciences (International Relations) and the Institut D'Etudes Politiques (Strasbourg). She worked as a flight attendant for Air France.
Since 1999, she is an official of the United Nations World Food Programme. She is the director of the United Nations World Food Program for France and Monaco, Paris. In 2015, she conceived, managed and launched the global awareness campaign "805 million names" [2] with football star Zlatan Ibrahimović and ad agency Forsman & Bodenfors.
She was Special Advisor to Minister Bernard Kouchner, Special Representative of the Secretary General to Peace keeping operation in Kosovo UNMIK (1999-2001). She served as Special Advisor to Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq (2003). She served as United Nations Blue Helmet in UNIFIL Peace keeping Operation in Lebanon with Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore" (2007) and with Bersaglieri Brigade "Garibaldi" (2019). She served in Operazione Strade Sicure Esercito Italiano with Granatieri di Sardegna.
She was awarded Chevalier Ordre national du Mérite by President Nicolas Sarkozy (2009) and Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (2018).
The Italian Armed Forces encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation's military police and are also involved in missions and operations abroad as a combat force. Despite not being a branch of the armed forces, the Guardia di Finanza is organized along military lines. These five forces comprise a total of 340,885 men and women with the official status of active military personnel, of which 167,057 are in the Army, Navy and Air Force. The President of the Italian Republic heads the armed forces as the President of the High Council of Defence established by article 87 of the Constitution of Italy. According to article 78, the Parliament has the authority to declare a state of war and vest the powers to lead the war in the Government.
The Slovenian Armed Forces or Slovenian Army are the armed forces of Slovenia. Since 2003, it is organized as a fully professional standing army. The Commander-in-Chief of the SAF is the President of the Republic of Slovenia, while operational command is in the domain of the Chief of the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with over 18,879 staff working in 138 countries as of 2020.
A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of airborne forces. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World War II for troop distribution and transportation. Paratroopers are often used in surprise attacks, to seize strategic objectives such as airfields or bridges.
Operation Provide Comfort and Provide Comfort II were military operations initiated by the United States and other Coalition nations of the Persian Gulf War, starting in April 1991, to defend Kurdish refugees fleeing their homes in northern Iraq in the aftermath of the Gulf War, and to deliver humanitarian aid to them. The no-fly zone instituted to help bring this about would become one of the main factors allowing the development of the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
The Irish Army, also known within Ireland simply as the Army, is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland. The Irish Army has an active establishment of 7,520, and a reserve establishment of 3,869. Like other components of the Defence Forces, the Irish Army has struggled to maintain strength and as of April 2023 has only 6,322 active personnel, and 1,382 reserve personnel. The Irish Army is organised into two brigades.
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Ibrahimović is known for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, technique and ball control, as well as his physical dominance. He is regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time and is one of the most decorated footballers in the world, having won 34 trophies in his career. He has scored over 570 career goals, including more than 500 club goals, and has scored in each of the last four decades.
The 20th Engineer Brigade is a combat engineer brigade assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps of the United States Army stationed at Fort Liberty. Although the brigade was identified as an airborne unit, not all of its subordinate units were airborne qualified—despite the airborne tab as part of the unit patch. Soldiers of the 20th Engineer Brigade provide various supportive duties to other Army units, including construction, engineering, and mechanical work on other Army projects.
The 1st Battalion, 6th Marines (1/6) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. It consists of approximately 1,100 marines and sailors. They fall under the command of the 6th Marine Regiment, the 2nd Marine Division of the II Marine Expeditionary Force.
A mine clearance organization, or demining organization, is an organization involved in the removal of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) for military, humanitarian, or commercial reasons. Demining includes mine clearance, as well as surveying, mapping and marking of hazardous areas.
Operation Ancient Babylon was the code name given to the deployment of Italian forces during the Iraq War. Their mission lasted from 15 July 2003 to 1 December 2006. The troops were located in and around Nasiriyah.
The Paracadutisti are a speciality of the Italian army's infantry corps.
Staffan de Mistura is an Italian-Swedish diplomat, United Nations official and former member of the Italian government.
Ross Stewart Mountain has spent most of his career in the service of the United Nations working on humanitarian, recovery, development and peacekeeping operations in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and the Pacific as well as assignments based in Geneva, Switzerland promoting non-governmental action and managing UN humanitarian operations.
Uriel Lubrani was an Israeli diplomat and military official. In 1964, he joined the diplomatic corps of the Foreign Ministry, and was appointed ambassador to Uganda and non-resident ambassador to Burundi and Rwanda, serving until 1967. From 1967 to 1971, he was ambassador to Ethiopia. From 1973 to 1978, he was ambassador to the Imperial State of Iran.
INTERSOS is an international humanitarian organization, based in Italy, which intervenes in emergencies and crises to bring immediate aid to people whose lives are threatened by conflict, violence, extreme poverty, and natural or artificial disasters.
United States Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) is an Army Service Component Command (ASCC) /Theater Army responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) area of responsibility.
Catena is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Philippe Lazzarini is a Swiss-Italian humanitarian who has served as Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) since 2020.
The 12th Peacekeeping Brigade is a military unit of the Armed Forces of Armenia. Sometimes referred to as the Blue Berets due to its role, it solely specializes in peacekeeping in foreign countries as part of international initiatives. It is commanded by Colonel Arsen Mangasaryan. In early 2016, Defence Minister Seyran Ohanyan said that he considers the brigade to be the "basis for the establishment of a professional army".