Secretary-General Appoints Major General Tesfay Gidey Hailemichael of Ethiopia Force Commander, United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Major General Tesfay Gidey Hailemichael of Ethiopia as Force Commander for the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

He succeeds Major General Hassen Ebrahim Mussa of Ethiopia, who completed his assignment on 17 January 2017.  The Secretary-General is grateful to Major General Mussa for his dedication and effective leadership of UNISFA as Head of the military component.

Major General Hailemichael has had a long and distinguished career with the Ethiopian Armed Forces spanning over 33 years.  He graduated from the Ethiopian Defence Command and Staff College in 1995 and is currently the Head of the Defence Logistics Department in the Ethiopian Armed Forces since April 2014.  He previously served as Corps Commander (2011-2014).  Prior to this, he was Deputy Army Corps Commander (2009-2011), Division Commander (2003-2007) and Brigade Commander (1997-1998), among other appointments within the Ethiopian Armed Forces. He has been a member of the Defence Council since 2011 and holds various decorations.

Major General Hailemichael holds a master’s degree in public health from the Siddarth HIV Research Institute in Ethiopia.

Born in 1965, he is married and has three children.