Haile Menkerios
29 July 2011 –
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appointed Haile Menkerios, the former head of the UN Mission in Sudan, to the newly created position of Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan.Mr. Menkerios, a South African who served as the Secretary-General’s special representative and head of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) from March 2010 until earlier this month, will “continue to assist the parties reach a negotiated settlement to residual Comprehensive Peace Agreement and post-secession issues,” according to a press statement.The UNMIS mandate expired on 9 July when South Sudan became independent from Sudan. The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Government of Sudan, ended the long-running north-south civil war in Sudan and set the path to eventual independence for the south.
Mr. Menkerios joined the UN in 2002 and became Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs in 2007. He was Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from 2005 to 2007.
In his new post Mr. Menkerios will be based in New York with frequent travel to Sudan and South Sudan.