New Unamid head appointed for Darfur

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the chairwoman of AU Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, announced today the appointment of Abiodun Oluremi Bashua of Nigeria as Deputy Joint Special Representative for Unamid. In a press release, issued on Wednesday, Unamid states that the new Unamid head “brings to the position a wealth of knowledge on the political context and operating environment in Darfur”. Bashua has served in Unamid since August 2009 at various senior levels, including as Director of Political Affairs, and most recently as Director of the Joint Support and Coordination Mechanism. He has extensive experience in several UN peacekeeping operations in Africa, including Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Sudan. He has also served as Secretary to the Conference of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.  He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in French Language from the University of Besancon, France, and a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Sociology from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.  Bashua was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1951.  File photo: Unamid forces in El Geneina, South Darfur (Albert González Farran/Unamid)