Secretary-General appoints new acting Special Representative for UN Mission against Ebola

The United Nations Secretary-General today announced the appointment of Peter Jan Graaff of the Netherlands as the Secretary-General's Acting Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER).

In his role as Acting Special Representative, Mr. Graaff will work closely with the Special Envoy on Ebola, Dr. David Nabarro, and with the Governments in the region and other partners, according to a statement released today by the Secretary-General's Spokesperson.

Mr. Graaff succeeds Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania, who was today appointed as Mr. Ban's special envoy for Yemen, and the Secretary-General expressed his sincere gratitude to Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed for his exceptional work and leadership of UNMEER, and for his commitment to ensuring the affected countries are on the road to recovery from the unprecedented Ebola outbreak.

Mr. Graaff is currently Ebola Crisis Manager for Liberia, a role in which he has served since October last year, and he brings a wealth of experience in international health issues and international affairs to his new position.

He served extensively with the World Health Organization (WHO) in a number of countries in Africa, and in Afghanistan and Haiti, and led the Civil Affairs and Development team for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).