United Nations Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres announced on 2 May 2023 the appointment of Leonardo Santos Sim茫o of Mozambique as his new Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel聽(UNOWAS) and Chairman of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission.
Mr. Sim茫o succeeds Annadif Khatir Mahamat Saleh of Chad, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedication and leadership of UNOWAS and the Mixed Commission.
Bringing to these positions more than 30聽years of experience in public administration and international affairs, Mr.聽Sim茫o served as Special Envoy for the Government of Mozambique from聽2021 to聽2022. 聽From聽2009 to聽2014, he was the Chairman of the 探花精选 Mediation Technical Team for Madagascar of the Southern African Development Community聽(SADC).
Previously, he served as Mozambique鈥檚 Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation聽(1994-2005) and Minister for Health聽(1988-1994).聽Mr. Sim茫o was also Executive Director of the Joaquim Chissano Foundation (Mozambique).
Mr. Sim茫o holds a master鈥檚 degree in public health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and is fluent in English, French and Portuguese.
