Secretary-General Appoints General Birame Diop of Senegal Military Adviser for Peace Operations

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of General Birame Diop of Senegal as the Military Adviser in the Department of Peace Operations.

General Diop succeeds Lieutenant General Carlos Humberto Loitey of Uruguay, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service to the Organization and his important contribution to advancing the work of the military components in peace operations and to strengthening the partnership with troop-contributing countries.

General Diop brings more than 30 years of military experience, currently serving as the Chief of Defence Staff of Senegal’s Armed Forces.  He previously held the position of National Security Adviser to the President of Senegal and of Air Force Chief of Staff.  He served as Deputy Chief of Air Operations with the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) from 2002 to 2003 and has a distinguished career in the Senegalese Armed Forces.  He was seconded to the non-governmental organization Partners for Democratic Change, from 2009 to 2013.

General Diop is a graduate of the Royal Air Academy in Morocco and also holds an Air Command and Staff College degree from Air University in the United States, and a War College degree from the French War College.  He is fluent in French and English.

General Diop will be joined by Major General Maureen O’Brien of Ireland who has been appointed by the Secretary-General as the Deputy Military Adviser.  She brings more than two decades of experience and has served in various peace operations, most recently as Deputy Force Commander and Acting Force Commander in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).  She will be the first female general officer to serve in this position.  Brigadier General Mohammad Nazmul Haque of Bangladesh will join the new leadership team as the Chief of Staff in the Office of Military Affairs.