Secretary-General Appoints Peter Jan Graaff of Netherlands as Acting Special Representative for United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Peter Jan Graaff of the Netherlands as his Acting Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER).  In his role as Acting Special Representative, Mr. Graaff will work closely with the Special Envoy on Ebola, Dr. David Nabarro, and with the Governments in the region and other partners.

Mr. Graaff will succeed Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania.  The Secretary-General expresses his sincere gratitude to Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed for his exceptional work and leadership of UNMEER, and for his commitment to ensuring the affected countries are on the road to recovery from the unprecedented Ebola outbreak.

Mr. Graaff is currently Ebola Crisis Manager for Liberia since October 2014.  He brings to the position a wealth of experience in international health issues along with international affairs, having served extensively with the World Health Organization (WHO) in a number of countries in Africa, Afghanistan and Haiti, as well as leading the Civil Affairs and Development team for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

Born in 1960, in Heerde, Netherlands, Mr. Graaff graduated from Leiden University in 1986 with a master’s degree in science focused on pharmacy, and from Heriot-Watt University in 2003 with a Master of Business Administration.