The UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday appointed Anita Kiki Gbeho of Ghana as his Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). Kiki Gbeho takes over from former Zimbabwean Raisedon Zenenga, who has been appointed UN Under-Secretary-General for Libya. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Gbeho has 25 years of experience in strategic planning, coordination and political administration and has worked at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in New York.
Her work included establishing high level political and strategic relations with national authorities, regional bodies and partners in conflict and post-conflict environments and diverse settings such as Angola, Cambodia, Iraq, Namibia, Sudan and Somalia.
Since May 2018, Ms. Gbeho has served as Deputy Joint Special Representative of the United Nations-African Union 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 with the United Nations Development Programme in Namibia.
She has also served as Chief of Section in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in New York and as Head of Office for OCHA in Somalia and Southern Sudan.
Ms. Gbeho holds a Bachelor of Arts 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.
