OLARA A. OTUNNU, UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL, SECRETARY-GENERAL"S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONCLICT
Press Release
SG/A/722*
BIO/3272*
OLARA A. OTUNNU, UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL, SECRETARY-GENERALS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONCLICT
20000210 Biographical NoteOlara A. Otunnu was appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan as his Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict on 19 August 1997. The appointment followed the Graça Machel Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children and was mandated by General Assembly resolution 51/77 of December 1996.
In the past two years, Mr. Otunnu has served as an advocate for the rights of children in the context of conflict, promoting measures for their protection in times of war and for their healing and social reintegration in the aftermath of conflict.
During this time, he has visited several countries still in the grip of conflict or in the process of recovery, including Sierra Leone, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Kosovo and its Balkan neighbours, Liberia, Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi. In many cases, he has secured important commitments from warring parties in key areas such as the recruitment of under-age combatants and not targeting civilian sites such as schools and hospitals.
Above all, the Special Representative seeks to ensure, by mobilizing international political will and public opinion, that the protection, rights and welfare of children affected by armed conflict are priorities on the global agenda. By acting as a catalyst among United Nations agencies and humanitarian non-governmental organizations, he also seeks to develop a focused approach to meeting the needs of children affected by violent conflict.
Born in Mucwini (Chua) in northern Uganda in September 1950, Olara Otunnu received his early education at Gulu High School and King's College Budo. He then attended Makerere University in Kampala, where he was president of the students union; Oxford University, where he was Overseas Scholar; and Harvard Law School, where he was a Fullbright Scholar. A lawyer by training, he practised law as an Associate with the law firm of Chadbourne and Parke in New York, prior to becoming Assistant Professor of Law at Albany Law School.
In the 1970s, as a student leader and later as Secretary-General of Uganda Freedom Union, Mr. Otunnu played a leading role in the resistance against the regime of Idi Amin. At the Moshi Unity Conference on Uganda (1979), Mr. Otunnu was elected to serve as a member of the Uganda National Consultative Council, the interim administration in the post-Amin period (1979-1980).
__________
* This supersedes Press Release SG/A/655-BIO/3110 of 10 October 1997. - 2 - Press Release SG/A/722 BIO/3272 10 February 2000
From 1980 to 1985, Olara Otunnu served as Uganda's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. During his tenure, he played a very active role, providing leadership in various bodies, including President of the Security Council (1981), when he presided over the election of the Secretary-General; Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights (1983-1984); Vice-President of the General Assembly (1982-1983); Chairman of the Contact Group on Global Negotiations (1982-1983); Chairman of the General Assembly Credentials Committee (1983-1984); Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Ministerial Meeting of Non-Aligned Countries (1983); and Chairman of the African Group (1981).
Mr. Otunnu served as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Uganda from 1985 to 1986, during which time he played a prominent role in the Uganda peace talks culminating in the Nairobi Agreement of December 1985.
Subsequently, he returned to academia. From 1987 to 1989, he was affiliated with the Institut Français des Relations Internationales as a Visiting Fellow, and with the American University in Paris as a Visiting Professor.
From 1990 to the beginning of his mandate as Special Representative, Olara Otunnu was President of the International Peace Academy. The Academy is an independent, international institution dedicated to promoting the prevention and settlement of armed conflict between and within States. Under Mr. Otunnu's leadership, it developed an extensive portfolio of programmes, including a policy research programme to monitor the effectiveness of multilateral peace operations and a programme designed to help the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and African civil society build indigenous capacities for responding more effectively to conflicts on the continent.
Mr. Otunnu has participated in many studies and commissions focusing especially on international peace and the reform of multilateral institutions. He has been a member of the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict (1994 to present); the Commission on Global Governance (1992-1995); the International Panel on Management and Decision-Making in the United Nations (1986-1987); the Group on Rethinking International Governance (1986-1990); the United Nations Group of Experts on New Concepts of International Security (1984- 1985); the Commonwealth Group of Experts Study Group on the Security of Small States (1984- 1985); and the International Task Force on Security Council Peace Enforcement (ongoing).
Mr. Otunnu has also been active in many civic initiatives and organizations. He currently serves on the boards of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Aspen Institute, Hampshire College, the International Crisis Group (ICG), the International Selection Commission of the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, Aspen France, the Council of African Advisers to the World Bank, the International Patrons of the Refugee Studies Programme at Oxford University, Aspen Italia, and the Advisory Committee of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Mr. Otunnu is the guardian of six children.
* *** *