Biographical Note

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS TAMRAT SAMUEL OF ERITREA AS HIS DEPUTY SPECIAL

REPRESENTATIVE FOR NEPAL, DEPUTY HEAD OF UNITED NATIONS MISSION

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Tamrat Samuel of Eritrea as his Deputy Special Representative for Nepal and Deputy Head of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN).

Mr. Samuel has served the United Nations since 1983 in various capacities.  Since the early 1990s, he has been responsible for a number of active portfolios in the Asia and the Pacific region within the Department of Political Affairs.  Between 1992 and 2000, he served as the focal point for the Secretary-General’s good offices on the question of East Timor.  He organized and facilitated five rounds of the all-inclusive intra-East Timorese dialogue from 1994 to 1998.  During the process of popular consultation, Mr. Samuel headed the office in Jakarta of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET).

Since 2003, Mr. Samuel has been Senior Political Affairs Officer responsible for the South Asia region within the Department of Political Affairs, with a primary focus on the United Nations efforts to help resolve the conflict in Nepal.  He was closely involved in the conceptualization and operationalization of the current United Nations role in support of the Nepalese peace process, which is being implemented by UNMIN under the leadership of the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Ian Martin.

Mr. Samuel holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from Addis Ababa University and a Master of Laws in international law from New York University.  Mr. Samuel was born on 30 September 1952 and he is married with three children.

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