In addition to gender balance, ensuring geographical diversity is a top priority within the UN. Nominations of candidates from all regions, including the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and Eastern Europe are sought.
Arabic and French speakers are highly desired given the areas of deployment of today’s UN Peace Operations. Fluency in English is a pre-requisite.
In general terms, the successful candidates will be exceptional leaders likely to have more than 20 years of relevant experience, including at leadership level.
The following are examples of external positions held by current and past incumbents prior to their appointment as Head or deputy Head of Mission:
- Ambassador or Permanent Representative to the UN
- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Development Cooperation
- Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Director of Multilateral Affairs, Foreign Service
- Director General for Culture and Communication, Foreign Service
- Supreme Court Fellow
- Representative of International NGOs
- Special Envoy
- Country Representative of bilateral Humanitarian or Aid Agency
- Special Representative of the African Union
This is the first time ever the Secretariat is opening a generic call to enlarge the pool of candidates for these most senior leadership positions in the field, which are traditionally not widely advertised. The level of seniority of these leadership positions cannot be stressed enough. When reviewing the nominations, the UN will consider the following experience and competencies as advantageous:
- International affairs experience (within the UN or outside)
- Mediation, conflict resolution and negotiation expertise
- Operational and managerial credentials
- Leadership role
- Representational experience
- Field exposure, including previous deployment in conflict, post-conflict development or humanitarian settings
- Regional expertise
- Rule of Law expertise
- Language abilities (particularly proficiency in English, French and/or Arabic)
Please read more below to learn about the backgrounds of currently serving Heads or deputy Heads of UN Peace Operations.
Recommended reading:
- Meet Sigrid Kaag, Special Coordinator for Lebanon and Head of UNSCOL
- Meet Aïchatou Mindaoudou Souleymane, Special Representative for Côte d’Ivoire and Head of UNOCI
- Meet Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace Process and Head of UNSCO
- Meet Bintou Keita, Deputy Joint Special Representative for Darfur and deputy Head of UNAMID
- Meet Kim Bolduc, Head of United Nations Mission for Referendum in Western Sahara and Head of MINURSO
- Meet Farid Zarif, Special Representative for Liberia and Head of UNMIL
This article is published as part of the Global Call for Nominations to the Generic Pool of SRSG and DSRSG Candidates, click here to learn more.
Photo: Sandra Honoré, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti and Head of the Peacekeeping Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). UN photo.
There is no cost associated with submitting nominations and neither the United Nations nor Impactpool charge a fee at any stage of the process.