Secretary-General appoints Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed as new special envoy for Yemen

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appointed Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania as his Special Envoy for Yemen after Jamal Benomar of the United Kingdom stepped down from the role.

In a statement released today, Mr. Ban's Spokesperson said that Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed will work closely with the members of the UN Security Council, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Governments in the region and other partners, as well as the UN Country Team for Yemen.

The statement added that the Secretary-General expresses his sincerest gratitude to Mr. Benomar for his tireless efforts aimed at assisting the Yemeni people in realising their aspirations for change through a peaceful transition.

Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed moves to his new post from a position as the Secretary-General's Special Representative and Head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) and prior to that he worked as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Deputy Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), UN Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative.

He has also served as Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Syria and Yemen and held several positions with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and he brings over three decades of experience in development, humanitarian and political issues with the Government of Mauritania and the UN in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.