The newly arrived Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for South Sudan, Alain Noudéhou presented his credentials to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, His Excellency Deng Alor Kuol, in Juba on Thursday.

Speaking after his meeting with the Minister, Mr Noudéhou, said “a key objective of the UN is to assist the people of South Sudan to achieve durable peace”.  He also indicated his commitment to “work with the people of South Sudan and with cooperation partners to respond to the current humanitarian crisis, and to seek practical solutions for the development challenges facing the country”.   

The Deputy Special Representative will also act as the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator as well as Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The Resident Coordinator leads strategic-, programmatic- and operational- planning and coordination to ensure coherence amongst UN agencies in the country.

As Humanitarian Coordinator, he is responsible for directing and coordinating the UN’s humanitarian response in South Sudan and as Resident Representative of UNDP he has overall responsibility the agency’s engagement in South Sudan. 

Mr Noudéhou, who is from Benin, arrives from New York where he was Chief of Staff and Director of the Executive Office of UNDP. He brings extensive experience in international development and humanitarian affairs having served as UN Resident Coordinator in China and as UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Zimbabwe.  He also served in senior UN positions in Tanzania and Rwanda.

The Deputy Special Representative holds a master’s degree in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University in the United States.  He completed his undergraduate degree at Tsinghua University, China.

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