Secretary-General Appoints Mohamed Khaled Khiari of Tunisia Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia, Pacific

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Mohamed Khaled Khiari of Tunisia as Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations.

Currently Director‑General of Americas, Asia and Oceania in the Tunisia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Khiari brings over 35 years of experience in diplomacy and foreign affairs alternating between his Foreign Ministry headquarters and overseas postings.  He served inter alia as Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the United Nations in New York (2012-2018), Director of Human Rights within the Department of International Organizations and Conferences at the Tunisia Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2011-2012), Chargé de Mission in the Ministry of Youth and Sports (2009-2010), Deputy Director, Euromed, within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Europe Directorate (2007-2009), Deputy Head of Mission (2003–2006) and Secretary of Foreign Affairs with the Permanent Mission of Tunisia to the United Nations Office in Geneva (1987-1993) and the Ministry’s Department of Maghreb Countries (1984).

Mr. Khiari participated in multilateral and regional activities during his career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, notably as Co-Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council Reform, President of the Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), Vice-President of the United Nations General Assembly, Non‑Aligned Movement Coordinator of the Peacebuilding Commission in New York, President of the African Group of experts to the World Summit on Information Society in Geneva and Coordinator of the Arab Group on European Parliament issues in Brussels.

He is a graduate of the Higher Institute of Management of Tunis, where he earned a master’s degree in management, specializing in marketing.

Born in 1960, Mr. Khiari is married and has two children.

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* This supersedes Press Release BIO/4430 of 23 November 2012.