UN chief appoints new resident coordinator for Central African Republic

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 22 (NNN-Xinhua) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the appointment of Mohamed Ag Ayoya of Mali as the new resident coordinator for the Central African Republic.

The resident coordinator is the highest-ranking representative of the UN development system at the country level.

Ayoya is also appointed as the UN secretary-general’s new deputy special representative for the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), and will serve as humanitarian coordinator for the country as well, the UN chief’s press office said in a statement.

He succeeds Denise Brown of Canada who was appointed as the UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, the statement said. The Secretary-General is grateful for her dedicated commitment to recovery, humanitarian, and peacebuilding efforts in the Central African Republic.

Ayoya brings over two decades of professional experience and extensive knowledge of humanitarian affairs, “with a particular focus on complex emergencies and child protection issues in field settings,” the statement added.

Ayoya has served as representative of UN Children’s Fund in conflict settings including in Somalia, South Sudan and Afghanistan. 

Ayoya holds a medical degree from the University of Bamako in Mali and a PhD in Nutritional Sciences from Cornell University in the United States of America.  Ayoya is fluent in English, French, Tamasheq, Bamanan and Songhai. — NNN-XINHUA