April 01, 2026 12:18 pm (IST)
Ban appoints head of UN regional office in Central Africa
New York, May 1 (IBNS): United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Abdoulaye Bathily of Senegal as the head of the United Nations political office tasked with helping to consolidate peace and prevent conflict in the Central African region.
Bathily, who brings to this position many years of political, diplomatic and academic experience with his national Government, academic institutions and more recently with the UN system, will serve both as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Central Africa and the head of the UN regional office, known as UNOCA.
He succeeds Abou Moussa of Chad, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for “his leadership and important accomplishments” during his tenure at UNOCA, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York.
Most recently, Bathily served as the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative in the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) since July 2013.
Headquartered in Libreville, Gabon, UNOCA has been working since March 2011 to support the efforts of Central African nations to consolidate peace and prevent conflict, as well as to tackle cross-border challenges such as arms trafficking and organized crime.
It works closely with the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), which comprises Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe.
[Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (left) in Bamako, Mali, in November 2013 with Abdoulaye Bathily, who has been appointed to head the UN regional office in Central Africa. Photo: MINUSMA/Marco Dormino]
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Latest Headlines
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threaten major US tech firms with retaliatory strikes starting April 1
Tue, Mar 31 2026
'Come close, we are waiting for you': Iran signals warning as US expands military options in Middle East
Tue, Mar 31 2026
‘Go get your own oil’: Trump signals hardline shift as Hormuz blockade deepens global fuel crisis
Tue, Mar 31 2026
UN diplomat quits, alleges nuclear strike scenario in Iran
Mon, Mar 30 2026
“This is not our war,” German Chancellor Merz says as Trump faults Germany on Hormuz
Sun, Mar 29 2026
13-year-old boy fatally stabbed in Germany; father detained
Sun, Mar 29 2026
