The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Anita Kiki Gbeho as his new Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).

A UN statement said Ms Gbeho, a Ghanaian succeeds Raisedon Zenenga of Zimbabwe, who has been appointed Assistant Secretary-General and Mission Coordinator of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), "and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service and contribution to the work of the United Nations in Somalia".

"With more than 25 years of experience in strategic planning, coordination and management in political, development and humanitarian affairs at United Nations Headquarters and in field operations, Ms. Gbeho’s work entailed establishing high-level political and strategic relations with national authorities, regional bodies and partners in conflict and post-conflict environments, in such diverse settings as Angola, Cambodia, Iraq, Namibia, Sudan and Somalia," the statement said.

Since May 2018, she has served as Deputy Joint Special Representative of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), where she led the development and implementation of the mission’s transition strategy. From July 2015 to April 2018, she was Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Namibia.

She has also served as Chief of Section in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in New York and as the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Head of Office in Somalia and South Sudan.

Ms. Gbeho holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in social sciences and African studies from the State University of New York and a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Ghana.

Born in Accra, Ghana, Ms. Gbeho has a daughter.