Secretary-General Appoints Khassim Diagne of Senegal Special Representative, Head, United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Khassim Diagne of Senegal as his new Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

He succeeds Colin Stewart of Canada, to whom the Secretary-General is deeply grateful for his strong leadership and dedicated service throughout his tenure.

Mr. Diagne brings more than 25 years of experience in international affairs and senior leadership within the United Nations system. He is currently serving as ad interim United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Mali, a role he has held since October 2024. Earlier in 2024, he served as ad interim Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS). From 2021 to 2024, he was Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Protection and Operations with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).

Mr. Diagne served as Director of the Political, Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Human Rights Unit in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (2017-2021). He was also Regional Representative, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to the United States and the Caribbean (2017), UNHCR Representative in Cameroon (2015-2016) and Liberia (2014-2015), and Deputy Representative in Pakistan (2009-2011). Between 2011 and 2013, he was Head of the Governance and Partnership Service and Secretary of the Executive Committee at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva. Earlier in his career, he worked with UNHCR in Côte d'Ivoire, Rwanda, Kenya and Somalia.

He holds a Master of Arts in modern languages from Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, Senegal, and a Master of Arts in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, United States. He is fluent in English, French and Wolof.

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* This supersedes Press Release SG/A/2018 of 26 January 2021.