GENEVA -- The U.N. migration agency says Amy Pope of the United States has been elected as its next director general.

She will be the first woman to head the International Organization for Migration.

Pope currently serves as the deputy of Director General Antonio Vitorino, a former Portuguese government minister, and ran against him in Monday’s election.

The IOM said member states elected Pope to lead the Geneva-based agency at a special session. She will start her five-year term on Oct. 1