Leadership

	Special Representative of the Secretary-general (SRSG) and Head of MINUSMA Mr. Mahamat Saleh Annadif Mr. Annadif brings to this position extensive national and international experience. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chad (1997-2003), Chief of Staff to the President (2004-2006) and Secretary General to the Presidency (2010-2012). He also served as Permanent Representative of the African Union Commission to the European Union from 2006 to 2010. In the course of his career, he took part in several peace processes in Africa, including in Niger, the Central African Republic and Sudan. From 2012 to 2014, he was the African Union Special Representative and Head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Mr. Annadif holds an engineering degree in telecommunications from the Polytechnic School of Madagascar. Born in 1956, he is married and has six children.
	Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-general (DSRSG), Political Affairs Mr. Koen Davidse Mr. Koen Davidse (from Netherlands) is the new Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General (DSRSG) of United Nations for Political Affairs of MINUSMA. He took office on 1 October 2015. Mr. Davidse brings with him 25 years of international experience, gained during a distinguished career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the World Bank and the United Nations. He was since 2011 until his recent appointment at MINUSMA, Director of Multilateral Institutions and Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Prior to that, he served as Director of Peacebuilding and Stabilization in the Ministry and acted as the Dutch Special Envoy for Sudan. In 2006, Mr. Davidse served at the United Nations as Research Director for the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on United Nations System-wide Coherence. He also served in South Asia for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and at the Permanent Missions of the Netherlands to the United Nations in Geneva and New York. A graduate of Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Mr. Koen Davidse holds a degree in international relations and political science.
	Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-general (DSRSG), Humanitarian Affairs and UN Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Representative of UNDP Ms. Mbaranga Gasarabwe Ms. Gasarabwe (Rwanda) brings more than 20 years of experience with the United Nations in development and humanitarian assistance, with a particular focus on Africa. From 2001 to 2011, she served as Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Benin, Djibouti, Guinea and Mali. She was appointed Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Safety and Security in 2011. Born in 1959, Ms. Gasarabwe holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Burundi and a master’s degree in management and business administration from the Arthur D. Little School of Management, now known as the Hult International Business School, in the United States.
	Force Commander Major General Jean-Paul Deconinck Major General Jean-Paul Deconinck of Belgium succeeds Major General Michael Lollesgaard of Denmark, who completed his tour of duty on 31 December 2016. Major General Deconinck brings to this position 38 years of national and international military experience with the Belgian Army. Before his appointment, he served as Commander Land Forces of the Belgian Armed Forces since September 2014. He also served in various leadership positions as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff (Support), Commander of the Belgian Defence College and commander of the 7th Brigade (Marche-en-Famenne) of the Belgian Army. He also held the position of Force Commander, European Union Battle Group (2008-2009). Major General Deconinck has a master’s degree in military and social sciences from the Belgian Royal Military academy. He is a graduate of the French War College (Ecole de Guerre, Paris), and Defence College, Brussels, Belgium. Born in 1959, Major General Deconinck is married with three children.
	Police Chief - UNPOL MINUSMA Police Commissioner Issoufou YACOUBA Issoufou YACOUBA, joined MINUSMA Police on 25 May 2016. Before joining MINUSMA as the Police Commissioner, Issoufou YACOUBA was the Senior Adviser to the Minister of Interior in Niger on security matters. After basic Military training, he started working within the Ministry of Interior of Niger in 1989 where over the years, he has acquired policing experience through various services ranging from Director General of the National Police on two occasions, Director of Public Security, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Director of Police Departments of Dosso, Agadez and Maradi regions, Deputy Director and subsequently Director of Judicial Police and Chief of Economic Crimes Investigation Division. Apart from his policing career, Mr. Yacouba also held a political position as the Governor of Dosso region in Niger from March 2010 to May 2011. On the international arena, Issoufou YACOUBA served as Deputy Police Commissioner for United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB) from May 2004 to July 2005 and also served in various managerial capacities within United Nations Observer Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) CIVPOL component from July 2002 to May 2004. These included CIVPOL Chief of Staff, acting CIVPOL Commissioner, Sector Coordinator, Adviser and Trainer. He has also attended several training programmes on Security Sector Reform, Global Security and Counter Terrorism and Automated Border Control. Born in Niamey - Niger on 15 January 1957, Issoufou YACOUBA is a graduate of Ecole Nationale Superieure de la Police-Saint-Cyr-Au-Mont-D’Or (Lyon France), University of Cocody faculty of Law (Côte D’Ivoire), Lycée Issa Korombe (Niamey – Niger) and College d’Enseignement General de Tera (Niger).
	Heads of Regional Bureaus Timbuktu Mr. Riccardo Maia Gao Mr. Oumar Ba Kidal Mr. El Hadji Ibrahima Diene Mopti Mrs. Fatou Dieng Thiam