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New York,
September 12, 2009 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and
African Union Chairperson Jean Ping today announced the appointment of
Mohamed Yonis of Somaliland as Deputy Joint Special Representative for
Operations and Management in the African Union-United Nations Hybrid
Operation in Darfur (UNAMID). Mr. Yonis succeeds Hocine Medili of
Algeria. The Secretary-General is grateful to Mr. Medili for his
tireless dedication and invaluable service to the United Nations over
the past 37 years.
Mr. Yonis brings to the mission extensive management and operational
experience, particularly in relation to Darfur. He is currently serving
as the Director of Mission Support in UNAMID, where he has been
contributing effectively in addressing the mission’s operational,
administrative and logistical support challenges. Mr. Yonis’s work with
these operations began at the initial planning stages in 2006, when he
served as the Head of the Darfur Planning Team in New York and later as
the Mission Support Adviser to the African Union Mission in Sudan
(AMIS). His broad management experience in supporting complex mission
deployment activities will greatly contribute to his new role at UNAMID.
Mr. Yonis’s prior peacekeeping experience also includes senior-level
assignments in field missions, including serving as the Chief
Administrative Officer with the United Nations Truce Supervision
Organization (UNTSO) from 2002 to 2006 and the Chief Administrative
Officer in the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the
Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) from 2001 to 2002. Prior to service in
peacekeeping, he worked for the African Development Bank in Côte
d’Ivoire in various senior positions, including the Director and
Management Adviser to the President of the Bank and the Deputy Director
of Human Resources Management.
Mr. Yonis holds a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard
University and a bachelor’s degree in political sciencefrom Miami
University. He has a diploma in education from the Teachers Training
College in Hargeysa and Gohrde College in Germany, and a certificate in
conflict management from the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution.
Born in 1947, he is married and has four children.
4 September 2009
Secretary-General
SG/A/1198
BIO/4112
PKO/219
Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York
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