The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Africa and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), Mr. Abdou Abarry, makes his first visit to Angola for the occasion of the Investiture Ceremony of the President and Vice-President of the Republic of Angola, which will take place on 15 September 2022 in Luanda, on behalf of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The arrival of the Head of UNOCA in the country is scheduled for the eve of the Ceremony.  This will be Mr. Abdou Abarry's first official visit to Angola following his recent appointment as Special Representative for Central Africa and Head of UNOCA on 28 July 2022, succeeding Mr. François Louncény Fall of Guinea, who has held the same position for the past five and a half years.

Mr. Abarry, who was Permanent Representative of Niger to the United Nations in New York, brings extensive experience in the areas of politics and diplomacy. Previously, he served as the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) and Head of the AU Liaison Office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2016-2019). Earlier, he headed the African Union’s Liaison Office to the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, Nigeria (2014-2016). Prior to that, Mr. Abarry served in various capacities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Niger including as Director General, Bilateral Relations, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2011-2014).  He was Ambassador to Belgium (2003-2011), accredited concurrently to Greece, Luxembourg and the Netherlands as well as to the United Nations Offices in Geneva and Vienna, the European Union Commission and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States.  From 1999 to 2003, he served as Diplomatic Adviser to the President and Director-General of State Protocol.  Prior to that, he served as Counsellor at Niger’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York (1992-1997). 

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