UN SG appoints Ghanaian Gbeho as deputy special rep to Somalia

Moses Kuwema

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced Wednesday, the appointment of Anita Kiki Gbeho of Ghana as his new Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).

And Secretary-General Guterres has appointed Lynn Hastings of Canada as Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

Ms. Gbeho succeeds Raisedon Zenenga of Zimbabwe, who has been appointed Assistant Secretary-General and Mission Coordinator of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service and contribution to the work of the United Nations in Somalia.

With more than 25 years of experience in strategic planning, coordination and management in political, development and humanitarian affairs at United Nations Headquarters and in field operations, Ms. Gbeho’s work entailed establishing high-level political and strategic relations with national authorities, regional bodies and partners in conflict and post-conflict environments, in such diverse settings as Angola, Cambodia, Iraq, Namibia, Sudan and Somalia.

Since May 2018, she has served as Deputy Joint Special Representative of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), where she led the development and implementation of the mission’s transition strategy.

From July 2015 to April 2018, she was Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Namibia. She has also served as Chief of Section in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in New York and as the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Head of Office in Somalia and South Sudan.

Ms. Gbeho holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in social sciences and African studies from the State University of New York and a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Ghana.

Born in Accra, Ghana, Ms. Gbeho has a daughter.
And Secretary-General Guterres said Hastings will also serve as United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, succeeding Jamie McGoldrick of Ireland, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his commitment and dedicated service.

Ms. Hastings brings to her new position more than 20 years of experience in humanitarian affairs, development coordination and political affairs. Since 2018 she has served as Deputy Director in the Operations and Advocacy Division of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in New York.

Previously, she was Senior Adviser in the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) between 2014 and 2018, Country Director for Pakistan in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs from 2011 to 2014, and Chief of Staff in the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process from 2003 until 2011.

Ms. Hastings has also served as United Nations representative to the Office of the Middle East Quartet Envoy for the Gaza Disengagement, and in senior roles in the United Nations peacekeeping missions in Kosovo and East Timor, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Prior to joining the United Nations, she practised law in the private sector and conducted legal research for the International Commission of Jurists.

Born in Canada, Ms. Hastings holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, as well as a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Windsor in Canada.