Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah "is an international diplomat whose career to date has involved a diversity of assignments.

"He has held senior positions in his home country of Mauritania, including minister of commerce and of foreign affairs and ambassador to the United States and to the European Union.

"In 1984, he joined the United Nations as special coordinator for Africa and the least-developed countries, and subsequently (1993-1995) as the special representative of the secretary-general in Burundi. For the past six years, he served as executive secretary of the Global Coalition for Africa, an organization headquartered in Washington DC, which convenes forums of African policymakers and their partners in the international community to debate Africa's priority development issues.

"Last month, he became the special representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa. Prior to his departure from Washington, he discussed his activities at the Global Coalition and his hopes for his new posting in an interview with AllAfrica's Reed Kramer."


 * Director, Search for Common Ground
 * Member, World Future Council
 * Former Director, International Alert
 * Advisory Council, Transparency International
 * International Advisory Board, International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life
 * Jury Member, Right Livelihood Award
 * Member (2002), Human Rights Watch Arms Advisory Committee