Save the Children UK has announced that Kevin Watkins has been appointed as its new chief executive to replace Justin Forsyth, who stepped down earlier this year.

According to a statement released by Save the Children UK, Watkins will take up his position with the charity on 28 September 2016.

Since February 2016, Tanya Steele has acted as the organisation’s interim chief executive. A spokeswoman for the charity said that Steele - previously the director of fundraising - will become Save the Children’s managing director after Watkins joins.

Prior to joining Save the Children UK, Watkins was executive director of the Overseas Development Institute, a UK-based think tank and worked for Oxfam for 13 years. He also worked at the United Nations for seven years as lead author of a number of reports on education, global poverty and climate change.

Watkins also worked at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. and is a visiting professor of International Development at the London School of Economics.Speaking about his appointment, Watkins said: “I’m joining Save the Children because I believe in the organisation’s mission, its values and the commitment of its staff – and because I’m passionate about the cause it champions.

“While there have been major gains over the past 15 years, we live in a world witnessing unprecedented levels of violence against children trapped in conflict, in which 16,000 avoidable child deaths happen every day, and millions of children are denied opportunities for education.

Peter Bennet-Jones, chair of Save the Children UK, said: “Kevin brings enormous experience and expertise, and will make a huge contribution to realising our goal to reach the most deprived and marginalised children.”

Justin Forsyth was chief executive of the organisation for five years, before he stood down in October 2015.

At the time, Forsyth said he had been thinking about the decision “since the summer”, when Save the Children UK was one of the charities that was heavily criticised in the media and by the PACAC inquiry into fundraising, following the death of Olive Cooke.