4 September 2009 -- The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the AU Chairperson Jean Ping today announced the appointment of Mr. Mohamed Yonis of Somalia as Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management in the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID). Mr. Yonis succeeds Hocine Medili of Algeria. The Secretary-General is grateful to Mr. Medili for his tireless dedication and invaluable service to the United Nations over the past thirty-seven years.

Mr. Yonis brings to the Mission extensive management and operational experience, particularly in relation to Darfur. He is currently serving as the Director of Mission Support in UNAMID, where he has been contributing effectively in addressing the Mission's operational, administrative and logistical support challenges. Mr. Yonis’s work with these operations began at the initial planning stages in 2006, when he served as the Head of the Darfur Planning Team in New York and later as the Mission Support Advisor to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS). His broad management experience in supporting complex mission deployment activities will greatly contribute to his new role at UNAMID.

Mr. Yonis’s prior peacekeeping experience also includes senior-level assignments in field missions, including serving as the Chief Administrative Officer with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) from 2002 to 2006 and the Chief Administrative Officer in the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) from 2001 to 2002. Prior to service in peacekeeping, he worked for the African Development Bank in Côte d’Ivoire in various senior positions, including the Director and Management Advisor to the President of the Bank and the Deputy Director of Human Resources Management.

Mr. Yonis holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University and a Bachelors in Political Science from Miami University. He has a Diploma in Education from the Teachers Training College in Hargeisa and Gohrde College in Germany and a Certificate in Conflict Management from the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution.

Born in 1947, he is married and has four children.

New York, 4 September 2009

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