Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of Mission

Mr. Tarek Mitri

On 12 September 2012, Tarek Mitri was appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). 

Mr. Mitri assumed his duties on 17 October 2012, succeeding Ian Martin, of the United Kingdom.
 

Mr. Mitri, of Lebanon, hails from a distinguished academic background and has held several Ministerial portfolios with the Government of Lebanon from April 2005 through June 2011, including in Administrative Reform, Environment, Foreign Affairs, Culture and Information.

Prior to joining the Lebanese Government, Mr. Mitri was the Coordinator for Interreligious Relations and Dialogue at the World Council of Churches in Geneva (1991-2005) and Program Director for the Christian-Muslim Dialogue at the Middle East Council of Churches (1984-1991).

Most recently, Mr. Mitri held the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Chair on Dialogue at Saint Joseph University in Beirut and served as a Senior Fellow at the American University of Beirut, Fares Center for Public Policy and International Affairs. He has also taught at Harvard University, the Amsterdam Free University, the University of Geneva and the University of Balamand in Lebanon.

Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator

Mr. Georg Charpentier

On 19 September 2011, Georg Charpentier was appointed by the Secretary-General as Deputy Special Representative for Libya and Resident Coordinator.

Mr. Charpentier, of Finland, brings extensive humanitarian and development experience to his new position. Before assuming the post in Tripoli, he served as Deputy Special Representative for the Sudan and United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in that country.

He was previously Deputy Special Representative in Côte d’Ivoire; United Nations Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Burkina Faso; United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Burundi; Senior Deputy Resident Representative in Ethiopia; and UNDP Resident Representative, ad interim, and Humanitarian Coordinator, ad interim, in Congo. He has also served as Deputy Resident Representative in Lesotho and Sao Tome and Principe, and Assistant Resident Representative in Mauritania.

From 2002 to 2004, Mr. Charpentier was the UNDP Deputy Director of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery in Geneva, covering transition and recovery, small arms and demobilization in countries including Somalia, Sudan, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire. He was also seconded for two years to the World Food Programme (WFP) at the secretariat of the Programme de Restructuration du Marché Céréalier in Mali. Before joining the United Nations, Mr. Charpentier worked in the private sector.

Mr. Charpentier studied in both Finland and Italy, earning a Master’s Degree in Economics from the Swedish School of Economics University in Helsinki, and a Science Diploma from Instituto Massimo in Rome.
  

 
Previous Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of Mission (September 2011 - October 2012) 

Mr. Ian Martin

On 19 September 2011, Ian Martin was appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

Before assuming the post in Tripoli, Mr. Martin served as Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Post-Conflict Planning for Libya, a position in which he led the integrated pre-assessment process, coordinating United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, the World Bank and the International Organization for Migration. Martin consulted and liaised closely with the Libyan National Transitional Council.

Mr. Martin, of the United Kingdom, has served the United Nations in other senior capacities, including as Head of the Headquarters Board of Inquiry into certain incidents in the Gaza Strip; Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Nepal; Special Envoy for Timor-Leste; Representative in Nepal of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Mr. Martin was also Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the East Timor Popular Consultation; Special Adviser to the High Commissioner for Human Rights; Chief of the United Nations Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda; and Director for Human Rights of the International Civilian Mission in Haiti. He also served in the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina as Deputy High Representative for Human Rights and Rule of Law.

Mr. Martin served as Secretary General of Amnesty International from 1986 to 1992, and Vice-President of the International Centre for Transitional Justice from 2002 to 2005. His writings include Self-Determination in East Timor: the United Nations, the Ballot, and International Intervention.