A special representative of the Secretary-General is a highly respected expert who has been appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to represent them in meetings with heads of state on critical human rights issues. The representatives can carry out country visits to investigate alleged violations of human rights and act as negotiators on behalf of the United Nations.
Special Representatives active as of June 2022 [update] include: [1]
Some of the former Special Representatives include:
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan is a UN Special Political Mission tasked with assisting the people of Afghanistan.
Leila Zerrougui is an Algerian legal expert on human rights and administration of justice. She has served as the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) since January 2018.
David Gressly is the United Nations Resident Coordinator / Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Prior to that he was the United Nations Deputy Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He also previously served as Deputy Special Representative in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
Alan Claude Doss is a British international civil servant who has spent his entire professional life in the service of the United Nations, working on peacekeeping, development and humanitarian assignments in Africa, Asia and Europe as well as at United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
Filippo Grandi is an Italian diplomat and United Nations official, currently serving as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He previously served as Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and United Nations Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan.
Kim Bolduc is the Deputy Special Representative of United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). She served previously as the head of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and the Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). In tandem, she will be also the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator. She has previously held other positions with the United Nations.
Sir Charles James Petrie, 6th Baronet, OBE is a United Nations diplomat. A former investment banker and management consultant, he then worked for the United Nations, before going independent.
Arnauld Antoine Akodjènou, a native of Benin, is a long-life humanitarian and diplomat, currently serving as Senior Adviser for Africa at the Kofi Annan Foundation specifically working on the Democracy and Electoral Integrity Initiative. Prior to this he served as the Regional Refugee Coordinator and Special Adviser to the High Commissioner for refugees for the South Sudan Situation at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He has held numerous positions in the United Nations Department of Peace Operations, in Côte d'Ivoire (ONUCI) and Mali (MINUSMA), and as a Deputy Special Representative of UN Secretary General. His career with the UNHCR spans over twenty-five years.
Abdallah Wafy was a Nigerien civil servant and diplomat. He served as the United Nations Secretary-General's Deputy Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) from 2013 to 2015. He was in command of the Rule of Law department. He was appointed to this position by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 26 June 2013. He succeeded Leila Zerrougui from Algeria and was succeeded in 2015 by David Gressly.
Peter de Clercq is a Dutch diplomat who currently is the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), where he also serves as United Nations Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative. He was appointed to this position by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 18 June 2015.
James Christopher Swan is an American diplomat. He was the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Somalia from May 2019 to October 2022.
Aurélien Agbénonci is a Beninese diplomat who served in the government of Benin as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2023. Previously he was Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
Nicholas Roland Leybourne "Fink" Haysom is a South African lawyer and diplomat who focuses on democratic governance, constitutional and electoral reforms and the reconciliation and peace process. Since 2021, he has been serving as the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
Alain Noudéhou is a Beninese diplomat who has been serving as Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and Resident Coordinator in Mali since 2021, serving alongside Special Representative Mahamat Saleh Annadif. He was previously the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Resident Coordinator, and Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan.
Denise Brown is a Canadian Senior UN official and the current Head of the United Nations in Ukraine. She was appointed to this position on 28 July 2022. Prior to this appointment, she served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG), Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Coordinator in the Central African Republic.
Tadamichi Yamamoto is a diplomat, who served as UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) until replaced by Deborah Lyons in March 2020.
The United Nations Regional Service Centre in Entebbe (RCSE) is a shared service centre based in Entebbe, Uganda that provides services, such as administrative, logistics and information and communications technology to various United Nations missions in Africa.
Catriona Wendy Campbell Laing is a British civil servant and diplomat who has been serving as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres' Special Representative for Somalia and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) since 2023.
Bintou Keita is a United Nations diplomat from Guinea. She is an expert in conflict resolution. Since January 2021, she has been the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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.