New Permanent Representative of Benin Pays Courtesy Call on Secretary-General

(Based on information provided by the Protocol and Liaison Service)

The new Permanent Representative of Benin to the United Nations, Marc Hermanne G. Araba, paid a courtesy call on UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.  He earlier presented his credentials to the Secretariat on 5 January.  (See Press Release BIO/5363.)

Prior to his latest appointment, Mr. Araba held numerous positions at his country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, including Ambassador and Permanent Secretary (2016-2017) and Deputy Director of International Organizations (2016).  From 2009 to 2015, he was stationed at the Embassy of Benin in Geneva.

Among other key roles, Mr. Araba served as a Counsellor in charge of negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and issues related to the multilateral trading system, from 2007 to 2009.  He was also Head of the Department in charge of International Political Organizations and Specialized Issues, a position he held concurrently with that of National Focal Point at the Permanent Secretariat of the Coordinating Bureau of the Least Developed Countries, from 2005 to 2007.

Mr. Araba holds a Master of Arts degree in international relations from the Taras Chevtchenko University of Kiev, Ukraine, and completed his first year of study at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Political Sciences of the National University of Benin.

He is married and has two children.