New UN envoy to DR Congo takes up duties

Alan Doss, the new top United Nations envoy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has taken up his duties in the vast African nation.

Mr. Doss, who will serve as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative as well as head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country known as MONUC, arrived yesterday in the capital, Kinshasa.

Appointed by Mr. Ban last October, Mr. Doss replaces William Lacy Swing of the United States.

Prior to assuming this post, Mr. Doss, a British national, served as the UN Special Representative for Liberia, a position he held since 2005. Before that, he was the Special Representative for Côte d'Ivoire.

Mr. Doss, 62, has also served as the Special Representative for Sierra Leone, where he also wore the hats of UN resident coordinator, humanitarian coordinator and resident representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

During his career with the UN, he has directed the UN Development Group (UNDG) and UNDP’s Geneva office. He also served as UNDP’s regional representative in Bangkok, responsible for aid operations helping Kampuchean refugees at the border of Kampuchea and Thailand.

Mr. Doss has previously worked for the world body in the DRC, as well as in China, Kenya, Niger and Benin.

In a related development, the UN-backed peace summit aimed at bringing peace, security and development to the DRC’s strife-torn eastern region – where fighting has uprooted hundreds of thousands of people in the past year – continued today with thematic talks and seminars.

The talks are taking place in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, where fighting has escalated in recent months between Government troops and rebels allied with dissident army general Laurent Nkunda.

The summit is expected to conclude on 17 January.