Announcement

Secretary-General Appoints George Conway of Canada Deputy Special Representative, Resident Coordinator in Somalia

18 August 2023
A man in a black suit and tie stands in front of a blue UN flag
Caption: The United Nations Secretary-General appointed George Conway as Deputy Special Representative for Somalia with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) and Resident Coordinator in Somalia.
Photo: © UN

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of George Conway of Canada as his new Deputy Special Representative for Somalia with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) and Resident Coordinator in Somalia.  Mr. Conway will also serve as the Humanitarian Coordinator.

Mr. Conway succeeds Adam Abdelmoula of Sudan, who was appointed as Resident Coordinator in Syria, and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedication and service in Somalia.

Mr. Conway brings over 20 years of critical experience in crisis prevention and peacebuilding.  He is currently deployed as the acting Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General/Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia for the second time, having served previously in the position on an acting basis in 2019.  He is on secondment from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Crisis Bureau in New York.  Prior to this, he served as Country Director for UNDP in Somalia (2013-2019).  He has also held several senior positions within UNDP, including as Strategic Adviser to the Regional Bureau for Africa, acting UNDP Country Director in South Sudan, Head of Programmes in Southern Sudan (Sudan), and as Programme Specialist in crisis prevention and strategic planning in Indonesia.

Mr. Conway holds a Master of Arts degree in international affairs from Carleton University in Ottawa, an interdisciplinary Master of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario, and a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from the University of Winnipeg.