Biographical Note

Secretary-General Appoints Abou Moussa of Chad Head of United Nations

 

Regional Office for Central Africa

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced his intention to appoint Abou Moussa of Chad as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), based in Libreville, Gabon.  UNOCA was established on 1 January 2011 and inaugurated on 2 March 2011.

Mr. Moussa, who currently serves as the Secretary-General’s Principal Deputy Special Representative in Côte d’Ivoire, brings to this position many years of considerable diplomatic, political and humanitarian experience from his long years of service with the United Nations system.

Mr. Moussa began his United Nations career in 1980 with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which he served in various capacities.  He was UNHCR Regional Coordinator in Côte d’Ivoire, Regional Director for West Africa and UNHCR Representative in Zambia.  He also served with UNHCR in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and at its headquarters in Geneva.

From December 2002 to September 2003, Mr. Moussa served as Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in Liberia (UNOL).  He was subsequently appointed Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for Liberia, a post he held from October 2003 to September 2005.  In May 2005, Mr. Moussa was named Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).  He has been serving as the Principal Deputy Representative of the Secretary-General in Côte d’Ivoire since September 2005. 

Mr. Moussa was educated at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and at Sorbonne University in Paris.  He was born in 1950 and is married with three children.

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*     This supersedes SG/A/938-BIO/3683 of 17 August 2005.

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