Secretary-General Appoints François Louncény Fall of Guinea Acting Head United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of François Louncény Fall of Guinea as his Acting Special Representative for Central Africa and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA).

Mr. Fall succeeds Abdoulaye Bathily of Senegal, who will conclude his appointment on 31 October.  The Secretary-General is grateful for Mr. Bathily’s dedication and excellent leadership of UNOCA during a critical period for the Central African subregion.

Mr. Fall, who has been serving as Vice-Chairman of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission of the South Sudan Peace Agreement since January, brings extensive experience in the areas of politics and diplomacy, having supported political processes in Somalia, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

Mr. Fall has held several senior-level positions in the Government of Guinea, notably as Minister for Foreign Affairs, from 2012 to 2016, and prior to that, as Prime Minister and as Secretary-General of the Presidency.  He has also held ambassadorial positions, including as Permanent Representative of Guinea to the United Nations, during which he served as a non-permanent member of the Security Council.

With the United Nations, Mr. Fall served as the Special Representative of the Secretary General in the Central African Republic from 2007 to 2008 and in Somalia from 2005 to 2007.

He holds a Master of Arts degree in international law from Conakry University, Guinea.

Born in 1949, he is married with five children.