Secretary-General Appoints Waldemar Vrey of South Africa Deputy Special Representative for United Nations Mission in Liberia

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Waldemar Vrey of South Africa as his Deputy Special Representative (Political and Rule of Law) for the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

Mr. Vrey succeeds Mark Kroeker of the United States, whose appointment ended in September 2015, and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his outstanding service in Liberia.

Currently Director for the Rule of Law and Security Institutions Group in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), Mr. Vrey brings to his new position a wealth of senior management, political, rule-of-law, regional coordination and security-sector reform experience in the United Nations, having served since 2004 in political and peacekeeping missions in Burundi, Sudan, South Sudan and most recently in Somalia.  He previously served as Commander of South African peacekeeping deployments and as Chief of Staff of the African Union Mission in Burundi.

Mr. Vrey graduated from the Stellenbosch University’s Military Academy in 1987, following which he studied senior management at the Stellenbosch Graduate School of Business and total quality management at the University of South Africa.

Born in 1962, he is married and has two children.