UN appoints Kenya's Martin Kimani as Assistant Secretary-General for Africa

The United Nations has appointed Kenya’s Martin Kimani as Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations (DPPA-DPO).

The announcement was made by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday, September 14.

He replaces Ghana’s Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee whose tenure came to an end.

Kimani brings 25 years of experience in international relations, peace and security and multilateral diplomacy across government, regional organisations, non-governmental organisations and the private sector.

He previously served as Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 2020 to 2024.

He also served President of the UN Security Council during Kenya’s tenure as a non-permanent member of the.

Kimani also chaired the Security Council’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa and co-chaired its Informal Expert Group on Climate and Security in 2022.

In 2023, he served as President of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Office for Project Services.

Before his posting to New York, Kimani served as Director of Kenya’s National Counter Terrorism Centre and the President’s Special Envoy for Countering Violent Extremism between 2015 and 2020.

He was also Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the UN Environment Programme and UN-Habitat from 2012 to 2015, and Director of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism from 2011 to 2012.

In the non-governmental sector, Kimani has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Africa Center, Executive Director of the Center on International Cooperation at New York University and Deputy Director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center.

He holds a PhD and a master’s degree in War Studies from King’s College London and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of New Hampshire in the United States.