Michael von der Schulenburg (full name: Michael Sergius Graf von der Schulenburg; born 16 October 1948 in Munich, Germany) is a German former diplomat with the United Nations and with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Between 2005 and 2012 he worked at the rank of Assistant Secretary-General in UN peace missions in Iraq and Sierra Leone. [1] [2]
Michael von der Schulenburg is a descendant of the ‘Russian Line’ of the old German noble family of the von der Schulenburg. He earned degrees from the Free University in West Berlin, London School of Economics, and the École Nationale d’Administration.
He worked for the UN for 30 years – in assignments in Haiti, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Sierra Leone, among others. [3] When serving at the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) as the highest UN representative in Sierra Leone (Executive Representative of the Secretary-General – ERSG), he came into conflict with the government over the implementation of the Lomé Peace Agreement, police arming and the forthcoming presidential elections. In 2012, he was asked to leave the country. [4] [5]
In 2001 Schulenburg accused Pino Arlacchi, the Director General of the UN in Vienna and of the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, in a confidential letter that was later leaked to the press, that the office under Arlacchi's leadership suffered from fear, intimidation and a general lack of transparency. An official UN investigation later confirmed the accused mismanagement practices. [6]
In 2009 Schulenburg put himself at risk in Sierra Leone to save 22 youths of the opposition from being lynched by a large crowd that was attacking the opposition’s headquarters. [7]
Since his retirement from the UN, Schulenburg worked as an advisor [8] and as a publicist. [9] [10] In 2017, he published his book On Building Peace – Rescuing the Nation-State and Saving the United Nations. [11]
In 2020, Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio awarded Schulenburg the highest honour of the country in recognition of his contributions to maintain peace in Sierra Leone, and made him Grand Commander of the Order of the Republic (GCOR). [12]
In 2024 he signed a "joint declaration" with Harald Kujat in support of China's supposed "peace plan", arguing that Ukraine "can no longer win the war, even with more weapons." [13]
(2017). Building Peace – Rescuing the Nation-State and Saving the United Nations. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978-946298-427-1
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individuals in diplomacy, mediation, and other peace-building measures.
The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) was a United Nations peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone from 1999 to 2006. It was created by the United Nations Security Council in October 1999 to help with the implementation of the Lomé Peace Accord, an agreement intended to end the Sierra Leonean civil war. UNAMSIL expanded in size several times in 2000 and 2001. It concluded its mandate at the end of 2005, the Security Council having declared that its mission was complete.
Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. It revolves around developing constructive personal, group, and political relationships across ethnic, religious, class, national, and racial boundaries. The process includes violence prevention; conflict management, resolution, or transformation; and post-conflict reconciliation or trauma healing before, during, and after any given case of violence.
The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) is a United Nations intergovernmental advisory body of both the General Assembly and the Security Council that supports peace efforts in conflict affected countries. A key addition to the capacity of the international community in the broad peace agenda, it was established in 2005 with the passage of both A/RES/60/180 and S/RES/1645 Mr. Ivan Šimonović (Croatia) is the incumbent chair of PBC.
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.
Joseph H. Melrose Jr. was an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Sierra Leone during the final years of the Sierra Leone Civil War. He helped broker the Lomé Peace Accord which brought an end to hostilities, and he worked to expose the role of blood diamonds in financing armed conflict in Africa.
Haja Zainab Hawa Bangura is a Sierra Leonean politician and social activist who has been serving as the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) since 2018, appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. She served as the second United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict with the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations from 2012 to 2017, in succession to the first holder of the post, Margot Wallström. In 2017 she was succeeded by Pramila Patten.
The United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) was established by the United Nations Security Council in 2008 to provide support to the Government of Sierra Leone in identifying and resolving tensions and threats of potential conflict, monitoring and promoting human rights, and consolidating good governance reforms. Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon travelled to Freetown, Sierra Leone to mark the closure of UNIPSIL, which officially ended on 31 March 2014.
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.
Brigadier Michael Neale Harbottle, OBE was a senior British Army officer who was chief of staff of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus from 1966 to 1968, a peace campaigner and amateur cricketer.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1941, adopted unanimously on September 29, 2010, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situation in Sierra Leone, particularly Resolution 1886 (2009), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) until September 15, 2011.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1734, adopted unanimously on December 22, 2006, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situation in Sierra Leone, including resolutions 1620 (2005) and 1688 (2006), the Council renewed the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) until December 31, 2007.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1829 was unanimously adopted on 4 August 2008.
Sylvester E. Rowe is a former Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations. He joined the Mission in 1997 as an adviser after a distinguished career in the United Nations Secretariat spanning three decades during which he served in several capacities including head of the UN Radio and Television Services; a speech writer and Spokesman for the President of the 39th session of the UN General Assembly (1984–85), and a member of the panel of counsel in the UN administration of justice system – the Joint Appeals Board and the Administrative Tribunal. In 1994 he served as a resource person in Ambassador Brahimi's special mission on behalf of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to Liberia and the ECOWAS Chair in Ghana, aimed at facilitating implementation of the Cotonou Peace Agreement for Liberia.
The International Peace and Security Institute or IPSI is a division of Creative Learning an international nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) status headquartered in Washington, D.C. Founded in 2009, IPSI was acquired by Creative Learning in November 2016. The Institute's objective is to train young peacebuilding and International Justice leaders in the skills needed to effectively intervene in violent conflict scenarios in pursuit of sustainable peace.
Funmi Olonisakin is a British Nigerian scholar, who is a Professor of leadership, peace and conflict at King's College London, and an Extra-Ordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria. She is the founder and former Director of the African Leadership Centre (ALC) founded on the principle of Pan-Africanism to build the next generation of leaders and scholars on the African continent with core transformational values. Olonisakin is the Programme Director of the ALC's Master of Science (MSc) programmes on Leadership, peace and security. She is a research associate of Political Sciences at the University of Pretoria, and was an Andrew Mellon Foundation distinguished scholar and a distinguished fellow of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP). She is currently an appointed member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) advisory group of experts. on the review of the UN Peace-building Architecture.
Macharia Kamau is Kenya's Principal Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He previously served as Kenya's representative to the United Nations and as the former President of the UNICEF Executives Board.
The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (OSRSG-SVC) is an office of the United Nations Secretariat tasked with serving the United Nations' spokesperson and political advocate on conflict-related sexual violence, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC). The Special Representative holds the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the UN and chairs the UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict. The mandate of the SRSG-SVC was established by Security Council Resolution 1888, introduced by Hillary Clinton, and the first Special Representative, Margot Wallström, took office in 2010. The current Special Representative is Pramila Patten of Mauritius, who was appointed by UN Secretary General António Guterres in 2017. The work of the SRSG-SVC is supported by the UN Team of Experts on the Rule of Law/Sexual Violence in Conflict, co-led by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPO), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), also established under Security Council Resolution 1888.
The Order of the Republic is the premier order of the state of Sierra Leone. It was established by President Siaka Stevens in 1972, to honour Sierra Leoneans and foreign nationals for distinguished and dedicated service to Sierra Leone.
Richard Konteh is a Sierra Leonean educator, public servant, and businessman.
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