UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Tuesday (February 13th) he intends to appoint Britain's Martin Griffiths as the new UN peace envoy to Yemen, AFP reported.
Griffiths, who is executive director of the Brussels-based European Institute of Peace, "brings extensive experience in conflict resolution, negotiation, mediation and humanitarian affairs", Guterres wrote in a letter obtained by AFP.
Griffiths would replace Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania, who last month announced he would not stay on as Yemen envoy beyond the end of his contract at the end of this month.
Council members have until 5 p.m. Thursday to raise objections to the appointment of Griffiths, who served as an adviser to the UN envoys for Syria from 2012 to 2014.
Diplomats, however, said they expected the council to endorse the appointment following weeks of consultations.
Griffiths was the founding director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva, which specialises in political dialogue.
He has worked in the British diplomatic service and for international agencies such as UNICEF and the non-governmental organisation Save the Children.
In 1994, he was appointed director of UN humanitarian affairs in Geneva and in 1998 became deputy to the UN emergency relief co-ordinator in New York.
