Secretary-General Appoints Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania as His Special Envoy for Yemen

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania as his Special Envoy for Yemen.  In this role, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed will work closely with the members of the United Nations Security Council, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Governments in the region and other partners, as well as the United Nations Country Team for Yemen.

Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed succeeds Jamal Benomar of the United Kingdom.  The Secretary-General expresses his sincerest gratitude to Mr. Benomar for his tireless efforts aimed at assisting the Yemeni people in realizing their aspirations for change through a peaceful transition.

Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed is currently the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER).  Prior to that assignment, he served as 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 has also served as Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Syria and Yemen.  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.  Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed brings more than three decades of experience in development, humanitarian and political issues with the Government of Mauritania and the United Nations in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

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/1531-BIO/4672 of 11 December 2014.