United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appointed his Deputy Special Representative for the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
On Friday, Ban announced the appointment of Mourad Wahba of Egypt as the Deputy Special Representative for MINUSTAH, where he will also serve as U.N. Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Wahba will succeed Peter de Clercq of the Netherlands, who Ban also thanked for his “dedicated service and contribution to the work of the U.N. in Haiti.
Wahba brings to the position extensive experience in development, policy making, and operations management, according to the U.N.
He currently serves as deputy assistant administrator and deputy regional director for the Regional Bureau for Arab States of UNDP in New York.
Prior to this role, Wahba was the Director of the Security Office in the Bureau of Management of UNDP in New York from 2009 to 2013, and U.N. Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Morocco from 2006 to 2009.
MINUSTAH was established on June 1, 2004 by U.N. Security Council resolution 1542 .
The mission succeeded a Multinational Interim Force (MIF) authorized by the Security Council in February 2004 after President Bertrand Aristide departed Haiti for exile in the aftermath of an armed conflict, which spread to several cities across the French-speaking Caribbean country.
The devastating earthquake of Jan. 12, 2010, which resulted in more than 220,000 deaths, according to Haitian Government figures, including 96 U.N. peacekeepers, delivered a severe blow to country’s already shaky economy and infrastructure.
The Security Council, by resolution 1908 of Jan. 19, 2010, endorsed the Secretary-General’s recommendation to increase the overall force levels of MINUSTAH to support the immediate recovery, reconstruction and stability efforts in the country, according to the U.N.
Following the completion of Presidential elections in 2011, the U.N. said MINUSTAH has been working to fulfil its original mandate to restore a secure and stable environment, to promote the political process, to strengthen Haiti’s Government institutions and rule-of-law-structures, as well as to promote and to protect human rights.
The U.N. said the mission has continued to mobilize its logistical resources to assist in the effort to contain and treat the cholera outbreak of October 2010.
