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Annan selects two envoys to fill posts in Guinea-Bissau and Côte d'Ivoire

Annan selects two envoys to fill posts in Guinea-Bissau and Côte d'Ivoire

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed new envoys to work with two United Nations missions in West Africa as the world body continues its efforts to build a sustainable peace and generate stability and economic development in Guinea-Bissau and Côte d'Ivoire.

In an exchange of letters with the Security Council, Mr. Annan has announced the appointment of Mozambique's João Bernardo Honwana as his Representative in Guinea-Bissau and head of the UN Peace-building Support Office in that country (UNOGBIS).

Mr. Honwana, who succeeds David Stephen in the post, is Chief of the Conventional Arms Branch in the UN's Department of Disarmament Affairs. A security and defence specialist, he has worked for the UN since February 2000 in various positions in this field.

Mr. Annan has also named Abdoulaye Mar Dieye of Senegal as his Deputy Special Representative for Côte d'Ivoire, where he will work under Special Representative Albert Tévoédjrè and specialize in humanitarian affairs, development and the country's disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme.

Mr. Mar Dieye, 52, is currently the UN's Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator for Côte d'Ivoire and has also worked extensively for the UN Development Programme (UNDP).