Mauritanian diplomat El-Ghassim Wane named UN envoy to Mali

Wane was UN assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping and held several high-level African Union posts.

Mauritanian diplomat El-Ghassim Wane has been named the new UN envoy to Mali, where he will lead one of the organisation’s most important peace operations, the world body said. Wane was the UN assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations between 2016 and 2017. Prior to that, he served six years in the African Union, where he returned as chief adviser to the commission chairperson from 2017 to 2019. On behalf of the UN, he led a team in recent months to conduct an independent strategic review of the UN-led peacekeeping operation in South Sudan, one of the costliest UN missions.