Biographical Note

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS TAYÉ-BROOK ZERIHOUN OF ETHIOPIA

AS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF SECRETARY GENERAL IN CYPRUS

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Tayé-Brook Zerihoun of Ethiopia as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).  He will replace Michael Moller.

Mr. Zerihoun is currently the Secretary-General’s Principal Deputy Special Representative in the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) and has been serving in that capacity since 1 August 2004.  He was the Acting Special Representative of UNMIS from October 2006 until October 2007.  He has been serving also as Chief United Nations Mediator for the Darfur Peace Talks since October 2007, in support of the efforts of Special Envoy Jan Eliasson.

Immediately before his appointment to UNMIS, Mr. Zerihoun was Chairman of the Interdepartmental Task Force for the Sudan established to integrate the efforts of the United Nations system in support of peace in the Sudan and to help develop a forward looking strategy for an effective United Nations role in support of the implementation of a comprehensive peace agreement in the country.

Since he joined the United Nations in March 1981, Mr. Zerihoun has worked on special political questions in New York, in different capacities and areas:  decolonization, trusteeship, conflict prevention and resolution, peacemaking, peacebuilding and peacekeeping.  Between 1995 and 2003, he served initially as Deputy and then Director of the Africa I Division in the Department of Political Affairs, with responsibility for the countries of the Horn of Africa, Great Lakes and Southern Africa regions, as well as regional organizations including the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Mr. Zerihoun completed both his undergraduate and graduate studies in New York, and holds a master of philosophy degree in comparative politics from Columbia University.

Mr. Zerihoun was born on 13 December 1942.  He is married and has four children.

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