Jamal Benomar
| Jamal Benomar | |
|---|---|
 Benomar at Chatham House in 2013 | |
| Born |
1957 (age 59) Morocco |
| Occupation | United Nations Under Secretary-General |
Jamal Benomar (born in April 1957) is the Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General, at the level of Under Secretary-General. He is also the lead senior UN official dealing with the crisis in Burundi. Previously, he served for four years as the UN secretary-General's special envoy on Yemen "where he worked tirelessly to facilitate the combined efforts of the international community to promote a democratic transition in the country".[1] He was the United Nations mediator in the negotiations that led to the Transition Agreement in 2011, and facilitated the positive conclusions of the National Dialogue Conference in 2014 and other agreements".
He was the Director of rule of law in the Office of UN Secretary-General and led the establishment of the Peace Building Commission and the Peace Building Support Office which he directed. He served also as the Chef de Cabinet of the President of the General Assembly and was for several years Special Adviser at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). His work at UNDP focused on peace building and governance issues in conflict countries. He worked also for four years as the Chief of technical cooperation in the Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights.
Prior to his UN career, he served as a Director to the Carter Center of Emory University where he worked where he worked with former US president Jimmy Carter on human rights, mediation and conflict resolution issues.
Under Secretary-General Benomar advised on peace building and conflict resolution issues in over 30 countries. He served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen among other countries. In mid-2004 he was the UN Secretary-General envoy to facilitate the National Dialogue Conference in Iraq. In November, he was the UN mediator in the negotiations that led to the signing in Riyadh of the agreement of the Yemeni transition, and played the lead role in facilitating the successful conclusion of the Yemeni National Dialogue Conference in January 2014.[2][3]
Under Secretary-General Benomar authored numerous publications dealing with governance, rule of law, constitution making and peace building.
Early years
Benomar was born in April 1957 in Nador, north of Morocco.
Benomar was a political prisoner for eight years in Morocco (1976–1983).[4][5] He was adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, which campaigned for his release.[4]
He Studied in Morocco and earned his bachelor while in prison. He also joined the Sorbonne in Paris where he obtained two Master's degrees, and completed his doctorate at the University of London.[6]
He worked as a lecturer and research associate in African and Middle Eastern politics for the University of Paris VII.[4]
In the early years of his career, he joined Amnesty International and rose through the ranks within the organization. During this time, he spent five years working as an Africa specialist for Amnesty International in London.[7]
Jamal Benomar was member of the Marxist –Leninist group Ilal Amam in Morocco and was imprisoned for his beliefs for 8 years. When the prison rules relaxed, he was able to study there. Following interventions by Amnesty International and his professor in Paris, he was released in 1983, was re-arrested then re-released in 1984, but was subsequently unable to get a passport to leave the country. During his incarceration, he had been visited by an English member of his Amnesty group -Joyce Edling. The couple had fallen in love and Joyce facilitated his escape to London where they got married in 1985. They lived together in London until 1991 when Jamal left to take up an appointment at the Carter Center in Georgia. The full story is told in the book “My Dear Jamal” written by Joyce and published in 1996.
In the 1990s, he worked as Human Rights Program Director of the Carter Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, working with former US president Jimmy Carter on human rights and mediation issues.[7]
United Nations
He joined the United Nations system in 1994, serving various UN entities, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA).[8]
In the summer of 2004, he acted as the Secretary-General's envoy to facilitate and mediate the National Dialogue Conference in Iraq.[6]
In 2006, he worked in the Office of the Secretary General to help establish the Peace Building Commission and the Peace Building Support Office.[6]
He served in Afghanistan and Iraq as the Secretary-General's envoy to facilitate the National Dialogue Conference.[8]
He was also a director in the Peacebuilding Support Office and the director of the Rule of Law Unit in the Office of the United Nations Secretary General.[8]
In the statement of his appointment,[1] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon described him as "a veteran United Nations senior leader" with "deep understanding of political dialogue processes and international peace building efforts".
References
- 1 2 "Secretary-General Appoints Jamal Benomar of United Kingdom Special Adviser | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". www.un.org. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
- ↑ "http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=46975#.VrIiRcfw_ow". External link in
|title=(help) - ↑ Jamal Benomar (2014-01-29), كلمة جمال بنعمر في حفل اختتام مؤتمر الحوار الوطني الشامل, retrieved 2016-02-03
- 1 2 3 Carter, J.; Boutros-Ghali, B. (1992). Conference for Global Development Cooperation: Meeting Report. Diane Publishing Company. ISBN 9780788184871.
- ↑ "Endpiece: Memories of Morocco". new internationalist. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
- 1 2 3 http://betterpeace.org/files/WGLL_speakerbios_20oct2008.pdf
- 1 2 Benomar, Jamal (1993). "Justice after Transitions." Journal of Democracy, vol. 4, no. 1, p. 3-14. Last accessed 2015-02-22.
- 1 2 3 United Nations (2012 August 1). "Jamal Benomar Appointed Special Adviser to Secretary-General on Yemen" [press release]. Last accessed 2015-02-22.