New York, 30 January 2014 - United Nations Secretary-General BAN Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania as his new Deputy Special Representative and Deputy Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) where he will also serve as the Resident Coordinator and the United Nations Development Programme’s Resident Representative.

Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed succeeds Georg Charpentier of Finland who has served as Deputy Special Representative since October 2011. The Secretary-General is grateful for Mr. Charpentier’s dedicated service during his tenure in Libya and for his contribution to the coordination of the United Nations system in that country.

Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed brings with him more than 27 years of experience with the United Nations in development and humanitarian assistance in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Most recently, he served as the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme Resident Representative in Syria (2008-2012) and Yemen (2012-2014).

He also served in several positions with the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) including as Director of Change Management in New York, Deputy Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa in Nairobi and Representative in Georgia.

Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed holds a Masters Degree in Human Resources Development from the University of Manchester (United Kingdom), a Bachelors Degree in Economics from the University of Montpellier (France) and an Advanced Certificate in Economics and Social Policy Analysis from Maastricht Graduate School of Governance (The Netherlands).

Born in 1960, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed is fluent in English, French and Arabic.