Ex-Dutch PM Ruud Lubbers named new U.N. refugee agency chief

Ruud Lubbers, former Dutch prime minister and president of the World Wildlife Fund, seen here in Brussels, Belgium on Friday, has been named U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Ruud Lubbers, a former Dutch prime minister, was appointed Wednesday as the United Nations' high commissioner for refugees.

Lubbers replaces Sadako Ogata, who is retiring from the post after 10 years.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented the new commissioner at a news conference, saying Lubbers "brings with him an extraordinary record of accomplishment" as a government official and also as a scholar and professor.

Lubbers, 61, was minister for economic affairs of the Netherlands from 1973-77, and prime minister from 1982-94. He also worked as a professor and in various private and nongovernmental organizations. He is president of the World Wildlife Fund.

The U.N. refugee agency provides food, shelter and medical help to the world's 14 million refugees, as well as to another 21 million people displaced within their own borders.

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