Gambari takes up official duty as UNAMID chief

El Fasher, 22 January 2010 – The new head of the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Ibrahim Gambari, arrived today in Khartoum to assume his duties as Joint Special Representative (JSR) and Head of UNAMID.

Over the course of the next two weeks, the new JSR will meet with a number of leaders and groups. This will include meetings with President Al-Bashir and his cabinet, several ambassadors and foreign government officials, Darfur authorities, and United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and UNAMID leadership and staff.

Mr. Gambari will then attend the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, where he will meet with AU Chairperson Jean Ping, as well as high-level officials of the organization’s member countries.

“I look forward very much to working with all the stakeholders in this country,” Mr. Gambari said upon his arrival. The new JSR went on to express his thanks to UNAMID’s senior leadership, as well as pay tribute to Minister Adada, acting JSR General Anyidoho, and former Force Commander General Agwai.

A Nigerian national, Mr. Gambari brings to the table extensive diplomatic skills, UN experience and knowledge of Africa. Most notably, this includes serving as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, chairing the UN’s Special Committee against Apartheid, heading the UN Mission in Angola and advising the Secretary-General on Iraq and Myanmar.

AU Chairperson Ping and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Mr. Gambari to the post, effective 1 January 2010.
Born in Nigeria in 1944, Mr. Gambari attended Kings College, Lagos, as well as the London School of Economics, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in political science, with a specialty in international relations. He received his Master of Arts in 1970 and his PhD in political science/international relations from Columbia University in New York in 1974.

Mr. Gambari is married and has three children.