Hany Abdel-Aziz
Hany Abdel-Aziz | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1946 Cairo, Egypt |
| Occupation(s) | United Nations official, diplomat |
| Known for | Special Representative for Western Sahara and head of MINURSO (2009–2012) |
Hany Abdel-Aziz (Arabic: هاني عبد العزيز), born in 1946 in Cairo, Egypt, held the position of Special Representative for Western Sahara and led the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) from 2009 until 2012.
Career
After graduating from the Egyptian Military Academy in 1964, Hany obtained a postgraduate degree in Economics from Cairo University in 1975. His career began in 1981 as an Arabic language interpreter based in Geneva, followed by various administrative appointments within peacekeeping operations in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Central African Republic, Lebanon, Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Burundi. In 2007, he took charge of recruitment efforts for the newly formed United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad. Subsequently, he was appointed director of Mission Support at the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
On 12 October 2009, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed him as Special Representative for MINURSO, succeeding UK diplomat Julian Harston. Working alongside Christopher W.S. Ross, the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Abdel-Aziz played a key role in reuniting nearly 13,000 individuals displaced by the conflict. His tenure concluded on 30 April 2012, with Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber succeeding him.
Reports indicated that critiques regarding Morocco’s involvement in the 2011 Western Saharan protests, which appeared in a document Abdel-Aziz submitted to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, were reportedly inserted after his submission.