Secretary-General Appoints Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania Special Representative for United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania as his new Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), at the Under-Secretary-General level.  In his role as Special Representative, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed will work closely with the Special Envoy on Ebola, Dr. David Nabarro, and with the Governments in the region and other partners.

Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed succeeds Anthony Banbury of the United States, who will return to New York in early January 2015.  The Secretary-General expresses his gratitude to Mr. Banbury for his vision and leadership of UNMEER, and for his commitment to fighting this unprecedented Ebola outbreak.

Bringing more than 28 years of development and humanitarian assistance experience with the United Nations in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed is currently Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Deputy Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), United Nations Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative.

He served as Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Syria (2008-2012) and Yemen (2012-2014).  He held several positions with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), including as Director of Change Management in New York, Deputy Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa in Nairobi, and Representative in Georgia.

Born in 1960, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed holds a master’s degree in human resources development from the University of Manchester, a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Montpellier and an Advanced Certificate in Economics and Social Policy Analysis from Maastricht Graduate School of Governance.

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*     This supersedes Press Release SG/A/1452 of 30 January 2014.