Profile: Ambassador Said Djinnit
Ambassador Djinnit is the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for West Africa and the Head of the United
Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA) in Dakar. He was
appointed in April 2008.
UNOWA is the first UN regional political office dedicated to conflict prevention, mediation and
peacebuilding. The Office facilitates a regional approach to address cross-border and cross-
cutting threats to peace and security in the sub-region and in particular, election-related
instability, security sector reform challenges, terrorist activities and transnational organized
crime including illicit drug trafficking. UNOWA promotes good governance and the rule of law
as well as human rights and gender mainstreaming.
Ambassador Djinnit also serves as chair of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission,
established in November 2002 to oversee the peaceful implementation of the ruling of the
International Court of Justice in the Land and Maritime Boundary between Cameroon and
Nigeria as well as the Follow-up Committee on the implementation of the Greentree agreement
related to the Bakassi Peninsula.
Prior to this appointment, Ambassador Djinnit was Commissioner for Peace and Security at the
African Union. He held various positions in the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now African
Union (AU), notably as OAU Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs. During his career,
he has contributed to the development of the new African Peace and Security agenda and
architecture including through the establishment of the AU Peace and Security Council and the
development of the African Standby Force (ASF). He has spearheaded efforts by the OAU
General Secretariat and the AU Commission in supporting peace processes on the continent in
Ethiopia-Eritrea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Comoros, Madagascar, Sierra
Leone, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sudan and Somalia among others. He
played a leading role in the deployment of AU Peace Missions in Burundi (AMIB), Sudan (AMIS)
and Somalia (AMISOM). On behalf of the AU, he contributed to establishment of the AU-UN
Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
Ambassador Djinnit also served in various diplomatic missions for Algeria.