Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen

Last updated

The Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen is a United Nations office created in 2012 to assist the Secretary-General for Yemen. [1]

Contents

List of envoys

Jamal Benomar : The first Special Envoy to Yemen was Jamal Benomar who began representing the Secretary General in Yemen during the summer of 2011 but was only formally appointed as a Special Envoy on 1 August 2012. [2] Benomar is from Morocco. Benomar was credited with helping Yemen avert civil war in 2011 and for helping organise the National Dialogue Conference. By end of 2014 and the start of 2015, a full blown conflict had started in Yemen, which Benomar tried to mediate. Benomar resigned in April 2015 after failing to prevent the conflict. [3]

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed : On 25 April 2015, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed was appointed Special Envoy to Yemen. [4] Ahmed is from Mauritania. Ahmed studied economics at Maastricht University and Montpellier University and also studied human resources at Manchester University. [5] Between 2008 and 2012, Ahmed was UN resident humanitarian and development co-ordinator in Syria. From 2012 to 2014, he occupied the same position in Yemen. In June 2017, the Houthis accused Mr. Ahmed of having abandoned his neutrality and warned him never to come to Yemen again. Ahmed left his post on 22 January 2018. [6] In June 2018, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in Mauritania.

Martin Griffiths : On 16 February 2018, Martin Griffiths was appointed Special Envoy to Yemen. [7] Griffiths is British and is a career diplomat. Griffiths previously served as the first executive director of the European Institute of Peace from 2016 to September 2018. [8] In 1999, he helped launch the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva. [9] On 12 May 2021, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced that he had appointed Griffiths as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). [10]

Hans Grundberg : On 6 August 2021, Hans Grundberg was appointment by António Guterres as his Special Envoy for Yemen. Grundberg who is from Sweden had served as ambassador of the European Union to Yemen since 2019. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator</span>

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator is a high-level position in the United Nations that heads the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations</span> Senior official in the United Nations

An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under-secretary-general is the third highest rank in the United Nations, after the secretary-general and the deputy secretary-general. The rank is held by the heads of different UN entities, certain high officials of the United Nations Secretariat, and high-level envoys. The United Nations regards the rank as equal to that of a cabinet minister of a member state, and under-secretaries-general have diplomatic immunity under the UN Charter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs</span>

The United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations (UN) with responsibility for monitoring and assessing global political developments and advising and assisting the UN Secretary General and his envoys in the peaceful prevention and resolution of conflict around the world. The department manages field-based political missions in Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East, and has been increasing its professional capacities in conflict mediation and preventive diplomacy. DPPA also oversees UN electoral assistance to Member States of the organization. Established in 1992, the department's responsibilities also include providing secretariat support to the UN Security Council and two standing committees created by the General Assembly concerning the Rights of the Palestinian People and Decolonization. DPPA is based at the UN Headquarters in New York City.

Cheikh El Avia Ould Mohamed Khouna is a Mauritanian political figure. He was the 7th Prime Minister of Mauritania from January 2, 1996, to December 18, 1997, Minister of Foreign Affairs from July 12, 1998, to November 16, 1998, and Prime Minister again from November 16, 1998, to July 6, 2003, under President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya; later, he briefly served as Minister of Foreign Affairs again in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah</span> Mauritanian diplomat

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah is a Mauritanian diplomat who was a senior United Nations official.

A Special Envoy of the Secretary-General (SESG) is a senior United Nations official appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to deal with a set of specific issues.

Mohamed Lemine Ould Guig is a Mauritanian academic and political figure. He was the 8th Prime Minister of Mauritania from December 18, 1997 to November 16, 1998. Guig was the Prime Minister between stints by Cheikh El Avia Ould Mohamed Khouna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Mauritanian coup d'état</span> Military overthrow of Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi

The 2008 Mauritanian coup d'état was a military coup that took place in Mauritania on August 6, 2008, when President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was ousted from power by the Armed Forces of Mauritania, led by a group of high-ranking generals he had dismissed from office earlier that day.

Anthony Banbury was appointed the President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in 2018. He served as United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Field Support until 5 February 2016. He resigned from this position, stating that the UN is in dire need of reform. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience with the UN, he criticized its sclerotic personnel system, a lack of accountability, insufficient impact and the UN's inability to deal with transgressions by its own staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mauritania)</span>

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the national ministry of foreign affairs of Mauritania. It has its headquarters in Nouakchott, just to the northwest of the Nouakchott Convention Center complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamal Benomar</span> Former Special Adviser on Yemen to the United Nations (born 1957)

Jamal Benomar is a former UN diplomat. He worked at the UN for 25 years, including as a special envoy for Yemen and a special adviser to former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed</span> United Nations official (born 1960)

Ismaïl Ould Cheikh Ahmed is a Mauritanian diplomat and politician. He served as a United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen and was therefore head of the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen from 25 April 2015 to February 2018.

Yahya Ould Hademine is a Mauritanian engineer and politician who served as Defence Minister of Mauritania. He served as the Prime Minister of Mauritania from August 21, 2014 to October 29, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen</span> Saudi war against Houthis in Yemen launched in 2015

On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched an intervention in the Yemeni Civil War in response to calls from the president of Yemen Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi for military support after he was ousted by the Houthi movement. The conflict ignited between the government forces, the Houthi rebels and other armed groups after the draft constitution and power-sharing arrangements collapsed, despite progress in the political transition led by the United Nations at that time, leading to an escalation of violence in mid-2014. The Houthis and allied units of the armed forces seized control of Sana’a and other parts of the country in September 2014 and in the following months. This prompted President Hadi to ask Saudi Arabia to intervene against the Iranian-backed Houthis.

International reactions to the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen of 2015 were mixed. Most other Arab League nations and several Western governments backed the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition, but other governments warned against an escalation in the violent situation in Yemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supreme Political Council</span> Houthi executive body

The Supreme Political Council is a largely unrecognised executive body formed by the Houthi movement and the General People's Congress (GPC) to rule Yemen. Formed on 28 July 2016, the presidential council consists of 10 members and was headed by Saleh Ali al-Sammad as president until his death from a drone air strike on 19 April 2018 with Qassem Labozah as vice-president. The territory that it rules consists of the former North Yemen, which united with South Yemen in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Griffiths</span> British diplomat (born 1951)

Martin Griffiths is a British diplomat who currently serves as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the United Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Kiki Gbeho</span> Ghanaian United Nations official

Anita Kiki Gbeho is a Ghanaian United Nations official who has been the Deputy Special Envoy for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) since 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First government of Mohamed Ould Bilal</span> Government of Mauritania between 2020 and 2022

The first government of Mohamed Ould Bilal was the 16th government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, in office between 8 August 2020 and 29 March 2022. It was a coalition between the Union for the Republic and the Union for Democracy and Progress, whose leader Naha Mint Mouknass was the only member representing the party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Grundberg</span> Swedish diplomat (born 1977)

Hans Grundberg is a Swedish diplomat and the current UN Special Envoy for Yemen since August 2021.

References

  1. ↑ "Background". OSESGY. October 19, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Jamal Benomar Appointed Special Adviser to Secretary-General on Yemen | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". www.un.org.
  3. ↑ "UN envoy to Yemen resigns after criticism of failed peacemaking". April 16, 2015 – via www.theguardian.com.
  4. ↑ "Secretary-General appoints Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed as new special envoy for Yemen". UN News. April 25, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Biographie du Ministre". diplomatie.gov. 19 June 2018.
  6. ↑ Gladstone, Rick (January 22, 2018). "U.N. Mediator for Yemen Conflict Leaving Post" – via NYTimes.com.
  7. ↑ "U.N. chief appoints Britain's Martin Griffiths as Yemen envoy". February 16, 2018 – via www.reuters.com.
  8. ↑ "Special Announcement: Michael Keating as new Executive Director | European Institute of Peace". www.eip.org. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  9. ↑ "Who is Martin Griffiths, the British mediator bringing formidable experience to Yemen envoy role?". The National. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  10. ↑ "Secretary-General Appoints Martin Griffiths of United Kingdom Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency Relief Coordinator". reliefweb.int. 12 May 2021.
  11. ↑ "Mr. Hans Grundberg of Sweden - Special Envoy for Yemen". United Nations. 6 August 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.