Secretary-General Appoints Yagoub El Hillo of Sudan Deputy Special Representative within United Nations Mission in Liberia

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Yagoub El Hillo of Sudan as his Deputy Special Representative in the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).  He will also serve as the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Mr. El Hillo succeeds Antonio Vigilante of Italy, who concluded his assignment on 15 June 2016, and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his outstanding contribution and dedicated service in supporting the implementation of the mandate of UNMIL and coordinating the activities of the United Nations system in Liberia.

Mr. El Hillo brings to the position a wealth of experience in the field and at United Nations Headquarters.  Since August 2013, he has served as the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Syria, based in Damascus.

Prior to that assignment, he was the Director for the Middle East and North Africa in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, a position he held since November 2010.  He served as UNHCR Regional Representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2009-2010); UNHCR Representative in the United Republic of Tanzania (2006-2009); Deputy Reconstruction and Humanitarian Coordinator, United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) in Baghdad (2005-2006); UNHCR Chief of Mission in Iraq (2003-2005); and Chef de Cabinet of the High Commissioner’s Office at UNHCR Headquarters (2001-2002).

Mr. El Hillo also served in a number of other positions since joining the United Nations in 1989, working in his native Sudan (1989-1991), Kenya (1991-1993), Somalia (1993-1994), United Republic of Tanzania (1994-1996), Liberia (1996-1999), Geneva (1999-2002) and at United Nations Headquarters in New York (2002-2003).

The holder of a Bachelor of Laws degree, he graduated from the University of Khartoum, Sudan, in 1986.

Born in 1963, he is married and has five children.