United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal on 31 May 2012 to serve as Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information at the United Nations.

In this position Mr. Launsky-Tieffenthal heads the United Nations Department of Public Information.

Mr. Launsky-Tieffenthal, a national of Austria, had served from 2007 until 2012 as Spokesman and Head of the Department for Communication and Information of the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs.

Mr. Launsky-Tieffenthal has had 30 years of experience within the Austrian Foreign Service, particularly in Asia, North America and the Middle East, with responsibilities ranging from public diplomacy and development cooperation to press and information. He has held senior leadership positions in which he was responsible for formulating overall communication strategies, including the extensive use of modern media tools, crisis management and negotiating international agreements.

On 31 July 2012, the Secretary-General also appointed Mr. Launsky-Tieffenthal as Coordinator for Multilingualism. In this position he serves as coordinator of questions relating to multilingualism throughout the United Nations Secretariat.