Senior Adviser, Africa, Cooperation between UN and Regional Organizations
Mr. Sipho Seakamela began his career in 2002 as a researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) in Johannesburg. While at SAIIA, Mr. Seakamela published numerous research work and served as a political commentator on key international relations issues. In 2004 he joined the South African Foreign Service where he worked in the humanitarian, peace and security branch. From 2006 to 2010, Mr. Seakamela served as First Secretary for Political Affairs at the Permanent Mission of South Africa to the UN in New York. During that period, he was part of the South African chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China in 2006 as well as the historic non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in 2007/08. He was in charge of peace and security issues including peacekeeping, special political and decolonization, cooperation between the African Union and the UN as well as African issues on the UNSC agenda, where he drafted and chaired negotiations on several resolutions and presidential statements of the UNSC, in particular on cooperation between the African Union and the UN. Most recently, Mr. Seakamela served as Advisor on Human Rights, Third Committee matters and African issues in the Office of the President of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) degree in International Relations from the University of Pretoria, South Africa and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Mr. Seakamela is a national of South Africa.
