Secretary-General Appoints Jean Arnault of France Special Representative, Head of United Nations Mission in Colombia

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Jean Arnault of France as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission in Colombia.

Mr. Arnault has until now served as Delegate of the Secretary-General to the Sub-Commission on End of Conflict Issues within the Colombian Peace Process.  In that position, he has been working closely with the negotiating teams of the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) in the context of the peace talks that take place in Havana.  Mr. Arnault has also been leading the Secretariat preparations for the future deployment of the United Nations Mission in Colombia, established by the Security Council in January 2016.

Previously, Mr. Arnault was appointed by the Secretary-General as a member of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations.  Prior to that, he served as United Nations Special Adviser to the Group of Friends of Democratic Pakistan; Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG); Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office in Burundi (UNOB).  He was a moderator in the Guatemala peace process before his appointment as Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA).

Having graduated in philosophy from the University of Sorbonne-Paris I, Mr. Arnault was a professor at Sciences Po in Paris, focusing on peace settlements and mediation.  He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Centre on International Cooperation at New York University.

Born in 1951, he is married and has two children.

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*     This supersedes Press Release SG/A/1586-BIO/4748 of 13 August 2015.