On Wednesday, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Raisedon Zenenga of Zimbabwe, as Assistant Secretary-General and Mission Coordinator of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
This comes a day after the appointment of Bulgarian diplomat, Nickolay Mladenov, as the new envoy for Libya. He succeeded Ghassan Salame, who stepped down from his position earlier this year for health reasons.
The UN said in a statement that Zenenga brings with him diverse and substantial experience in supporting political processes and mediation. He also brings proven skills in managing complex peace operations, and significant experience in working with government and other key stakeholders in conflict and post-conflict settings.
He has over 30 years of UN, government, and diplomatic service experience. 21 of which were served with the UN in field offices including in Liberia, Iraq-Kuwait, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and South Sudan.
Zenenga has served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General at the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) since 2014, and before that as Deputy Special Representative (Political) with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). He was previously a senior manager at the UN Headquarters for 10 years, during which he supported several peacekeeping operations in Africa.