Editor's Note: This post was co-authored by Annie Callaway and Sasha Lezhnev.
On July 17th, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon announced the appointment of senior Algerian diplomat Ambassador Said Djinnit as Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Amb. Djinnit will replace Mary Robinson, who held the position from March 2013 until last week when she accepted the role of U.N. Special Envoy for Climate Change.
With a strong passion for peace and security in Africa, senior diplomatic heft throughought the continent, and adept diplomacy, Amb. Djinnit adds tremendous value to the international envoy team working on peace in Congo and the Great Lakes region. His previous positions include Commissioner for Peace and Security for the African Union, and U.N. Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the U.N. office for West Africa. He also worked tirelessly and effectively in partnership with the U.S. government - including directly with Susan Rice, Gayle Smith, and John Prendergast - on the Ethiopia-Eritrea negotiations to end the war in the late 1990s. His years of experience on issues related to peacebuilding have earned him the respect of many African leaders, which will be of use during his tenure as Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region, as the regional peace process for Congo will require careful diplomacy amongst nations.
Now is a critical time and an opportunity for the peace process, as it must move toward solutions to the FDLR rebellion, address economic drivers of the conflict, and be more inclusive of civil society. Amb. Djinnit must help make those changes happen, if peace is to take root.
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