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

Ms. Joanne Adamson

With 30 years as a leader and policy specialist in peace and security, Ms. Adamson has extensive experience in diplomacy, political affairs and analysis, multilateral negotiations and conflict resolution with the European Union, the United Nations and the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom. 

Since 2016, she has served as Deputy Head of the European Union delegation to the United Nations, where she focused on reform of the Organization and strengthening collaborative relationships, particularly among the United Nations, the African Union and the European Union.

From 2014 to 2016, Ms. Adamson was her country’s Ambassador to Mali and Niger, where she played an active role in advancing Mali’s peace process and helped to develop a cross-Sahel stabilization programme. 

She has also served with United Nations peacekeeping, including at New York Headquarters, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Born in 1967, Ms. Adamson holds a master’s degree from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Cambridge.  She is fluent in Arabic and French.

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

Lieutenant General Dennis Gyllensporre

On 31 August 2018, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Lieutenant General Dennis Gyllensporre as the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) new Force Commander. Lieutenant General Gyllensporre officially took office on 2 October 2018. He succeeds to Major General Jean-Paul Deconinck.

Dennis Gyllensporre holds the rank of Lieutenant General and has been operating since 2014 as Chief of the Swedish Defence Staff and Head of Special Forces. Lieutenant-General Gyllensporre has a 35 years of experience with the Swedish Army. He has served as Chief of Staff of the Supreme Command Staff, Head of the Force Development Department and Head of the Policy and Plans Department of the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters.

He has occupied several command positions in Sweden, and abroad with the European Union and with the United Nations. During his various missions, he was deployed with the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations for the pre-planning and coordination of the UNMIS Mission in Sudan. Lieutenant-General Gyllensporre has extensive experience in high-level negotiations as well as in international crisis management. Before joining MINUSMA, he was, since 2014, head of the Plans and Policy Department of the Swedish Army. This assignment included among other things planning and oversight of the Swedish forces in MINUSMA.

Alongside his military career, Dennis Gyllensporre also has an extensive academic background: he graduated from several universities in Europe and the United States, and is the author of books and academic articles on the military strategy of the United Nations.

Lieutenant-General Gyllensporre is dedicated to leadership development and gender equality. He is also serving as a board member of the Anna Lindh Academy, a values-based leadership training institution that wants to contribute to a new generation of leaders working for democracy and human rights.

Dennis Gyllensporre is married and has 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. Christophe Sivillon

• Mopti

Mrs. Fatou Dieng Thiam