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UNMEE/PR/111
The new Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG) based in Asmara, Mr. Joël W. ADECHI, has arrived in the Mission area and assumed his duties with the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).

A citizen of Benin, the new DSRSG has had a long and distinguished career in the fields of International Diplomacy and Political Affairs. His career begin in the Benin Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1976, after graduating in International Law from the University of Orleans, France. Mr. ADECHI also holds a Masters Degree in Diplomacy from the International Institute of Public Administration of Paris.

During his tenure as a diplomat, Mr. ADECHI served with distinction in a variety of capacities in his country's foreign service, including appointments to the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa) as Chargé ? Affaires with simultaneous accreditation to the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and Angola. He also served in Canada as Minister Counsellor, and in New York in the same capacity in the Permanent Mission of Benin to the United Nations.

At the United Nations Secretariat in New York, Mr. ADECHI chaired two Committees of the Security Council: The Working Group on Sanctions and The Working Group on Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa. He also served as President of the Coordinating Bureau of the Least Developed Countries.

Before joining UNMEE, Ambassador ADECHI served as his country's Ambassador to the United Nations from September 1999 to the present, and was his country's representative on the Security Council.

Mr. Adechi, who arrived in Asmara on 07 June 2005, takes up the position after the departure of former DSRSG Sissal Ekaas.

For additional information contact the UNMEE Public Information Offices:

Addis Ababa, phone: 251-1-726895
Asmara, phone: 291-1-151908
E-mail: unmeepublicinformation@un.org