Sahel-work Zewde, director general of the Directorate of African Affairs at the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MoFA), has been appointed as Special Representative of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General for Central African Republic (CAR).

Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the UN, informed Security Council of his intention to appoint Sahel-work as a top UN official in CAR.

As the new Special Representative, she would head the UN Peace-Building Support Office in Central Africa (BONUCA), which is to be replaced by the UN Integrated Peace Building Office (BINUCA).

As Ethiopia’s representative to the African Union Peace and Security Council, she has been involved in discussions on the situation in Central Africa in AU’s initiative for peace building and conflict prevention.

She is a career diplomat and currently a Permanent Representative of Ethiopia for African Union and UN Economic Commission for Africa.

Sahel-work will be the second woman to serve as a personal envoy under the current Secretary-General, replacing François Lonseny Fall of Guinea who has served in the post for the last two years.

She has served as an ambassador for the last 20 years, serving in various diplomatic capacities. For instance, she was the Ethiopian Ambassador to Senegal for four years from 1989 to 1993, and also worked in countries like Mali, Guinea, Guinea Bissau and Gambia.

Sahel-work also served as the Ethiopian Ambassador in Djibouti for nine years (1993-2002) and France for four years (2002-2004), and also was responsible for various diplomatic posts in Morocco, Tunisia, as well as within the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Sahel-work obtained her first degree in Natural Science from a University in France.

- By HILINA ALEMU | Addis Fortune

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