Secretary-General Appoints Lieutenant General Marcos De Sá Affonso Da Costa of Brazil Force Commander for United Nations Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Lieutenant General Marcos De Sá Affonso Da Costa of Brazil as Force Commander for the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
Lieutenant General Affonso Da Costa succeeds Lieutenant General Ricardo Augusto Ferreira Costa Neves of Brazil who completed his assignment on 31 March and to whom the Secretary-General is deeply grateful for his important contribution and service to MONUSCO.
Lieutenant General Affonso Da Costa has several years of experience in command and control structures in the Brazilian Army, serving since 2019 as Chief of land forces preparation, in charge of coordinating the military training and managing the operational capability and readiness of Brazilian land forces. Prior to that, he served as Commander of the officers’ improvement school.
He has held several other command positions, including Brigade Commander in the 15th Mechanized Infantry (2016-2018), Commander of the cadets’ preparatory school (2014-2016) and Commander of the 2nd Jungle Infantry Battalion (2008-2011), specialized in jungle environment operations. He also has international experience, having served as Liaison Officer in the United Nations Angola Verification Mission III (UNAVEM III) and in the Brazilian military missions in Peru and France.
Lieutenant General Affonso Da Costa holds a bachelor’s degree in administration from the Das Agulhas Negras Military Academy in Brazil and completed several military trainings in the Institut des hautes études de défense nationale de Paris and Centre des hautes études militaires de Paris. He is fluent in French, English, Portuguese and Spanish.