Biographical Note

Secretary-General Appoints Haile Menkerios of South Africa

 

as Special Representative for Sudan

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Haile Menkerios ( South Africa) as his Special Representative for the Sudan.  Mr. Menkerios will succeed Ashraf Jehangir Qazi ( Pakistan), who has served as the Special Representative for the Sudan since 4 September 2007.  The Secretary‑General would like to take this opportunity to express his appreciation to Mr. Qazi for his dedicated service during his tenure in the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS).

Mr. Menkerios brings to the position extensive experience in African issues.  Joining the United Nations in 2002, he was appointed by the Secretary‑General as Assistant Secretary‑General for Political Affairs on 1 July 2007.  During his tenure, he facilitated the Nairobi Communiqué between the Governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda regarding the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) and other illegal armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and has been actively engaged in preventive diplomacy in Africa representing the Secretary-General.  Prior to this he served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2005 to 2007.

From 2003 to 2005, he served as the Director of the Africa I Division of the Department of Political Affairs.  In 2002, Mr. Menkerios served as Senior Adviser to the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Inter-Congolese Dialogue and assisted the Special Envoy on all aspects of the mediation process prior to the signing of the Global and All Inclusive Agreement on 17 December 2002 in Sun City, South Africa.

From 1991 to 2000, Mr. Menkerios represented the Eritrean Government in various capacities, including as Ambassador to Ethiopia and the Organisation of African Unity, Special Envoy to Somalia and also the Great Lakes region, and as Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Mr. Menkerios has a master’s degree from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University.

He was born on 1 October 1946.

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*     This supersedes Press Release SG/A/1066-BIO/3875 of 16 May 2007.

For information media • not an official record